Transcript
Well, if you will, go ahead and start turning in your Bible to 1 Peter 2, and we will be continuing our study in verse 18 of 1 Peter 2, beginning with verse 18.
I mentioned in last week's message, we are starting a new subsection. As of last week, we went over the social order of how, as believers, we are to conduct ourselves in the civil order of government. And that's namely nationally, right, as well as locally, state, and city.
We're going to touch on something that's not common here in the Western culture. And that's the second social order of the relationship between master and servants, masters and servants. Just to kind of look at it from the context of in Peter's day, this was all very much common in the Greco-Roman world. There were many, in fact, many that were servants that became Christians amongst those that Peter knew. And that is why he is writing to them. So although, again, this dynamic is not common in the Western culture, we will still see some biblical principles that still apply to us in our day and in our age.
So read with me with verse 18, if you will, silently. It says this, Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the forward.
So in this verse, after Peter explained how you and I as residents relate to government's authority, he's now shifting gears to another authority dynamic. And that's namely, he wants us to draw our attention to the authority of the relationship between servants and masters. And just like the government is an appointed authority, namely by God, one thing that is different, in the servant-master relationship is the result of sin, okay? Here's another distinction between the authority of the government and masters. The government is appointed by God as a judiciary authority, and we see this all the way back beginning in Genesis 9, chapter 9, all the way to Joshua, where we see this played out. So it's nothing new in the New Testament. It has been settled as important all the way in the old testament beginning in genesis chapter 9 but when it comes to a servant and a master that's different god never really intended to make a man a servant of another man that was never his intention however god doesn't just take away the consequences of sin there are repercussions that still reverberate to today's age and time that we live in. And I'll explain that as we go further into the text.
Instead, he instructs people who know that they are bought with a price and are freed from their sin by the washing of their sins by the blood of Christ. He's speaking to believers as servants at this particular time and period and how to live in a way that honors God. And even when they're dealing with those really bad outcomes of a servant and a master's relationship.
So there's a nuance to it as well in the New Testament. There was opportunities for servants to be free. And there are passages about that. And God gives them room to take it. So they're not forced to stay in that servant-master relationship. But for the servant who can't get free, God has something in mind. That servant actually gets a special, unique opportunity, especially in their work as a servant, to really show what it means to be a Christian. 1 Corinthians 7.22 emphasizes the servant's belonging to the Lord Jesus Christ to be employed and disposed of according to Christ. His wisdom, Christ's wisdom, finding that this is an opportunity to serve, even though, again, there's no obligation to stay in that dynamic relationship of master and servant. That ultimately, we are Christ's servant. We are Christ's slave. We're living in the righteousness of him. And so that's what 1 Corinthians 7.22 says. There's a great opportunity to display Christ in that dynamic.
So, but with this and Peter... Peter speaks about servants and not slaves. Let's just be very clear. He's not talking about slaves here. He's talking about servants. Their situations were in some way similar that there was still a master involved, but there's more to it than that. One thing, let's just focus on master before I get there. The word master actually means despot. What this literally means is that this master in charge has unlimited power over other people and often would use it in a cruel and unfair manner, unjust manner, which shows that these masters had total power and were basically kings of their homes. These servants were domesticated, meaning that they were serving in the homes. They were essentially employees in the home. Many things were happening in that time where you would conduct yourself mainly in your home. And so the master would hire servants to fulfill those tasks in the house. So a servant was part of the household staff. so that they had more direct contact with their master than as a slave would be. They were very much more in close proximity into the day-to-day activities. This just made the temptation, by the way, to rebel or manipulate even stronger. because of that clash, right? They were treated unfairly, unjustly. And that's why Peter instructs these servants specifically that they would be respectful to submit to their masters with all fear. That means with all reverence or with all respect. We touched on that, right, in the previous study of respecting all men. That includes masters.
And so that's a little bit from last week bringing into this text. But to remove any excuses for the servant, he clarifies something. That this applies not only to the good and gentle, you see there, but what? Forward masters. What is that? They were unreasonable. Didn't make any sense. Why were they so harsh in one particular and another area of conducting themselves? And it's easy, right? Another way of saying it's very easy to be submissive to a kind master, right? That's always good. That's always gentle. Of course, that's easy. So he's not making any excuse for that case. But he's especially not making the excuse when it requires much more submissiveness, much more willingness to respect when you have a harsh master, right?
So he's going to explain that very succinctly here in this passage. Because for such masters, servants are merely tools. That's how masters looked at servants. They were just tools to their overarching plan. They didn't treat them like real human beings. In many sense, corporate America is like that, where you're just a number. They can hire and fire you as they please. So in that way, there's some similarities with our culture today. I'm not saying all corporations are like that, but just generally speaking, there's someone, a top dog that's doing all of that.
Therefore, when servants have an unreasonable master or forward master in the text, they are uniquely positioned. As I mentioned in 1 Corinthians 7, 22, I'm going to use another passage, Titus 2, 10. There was also that dynamic in Titus' time where there were this relationship between servant and masters. And he says in chapter 2, verse 10, to adorn the doctrine of God and Savior. What this means is that he was teaching Christian slaves in this situation. There were a lot more slaves there in times of Titus. And what he was sharing was just stay committed to being trustworthy and reliable. Those two words, trustworthy and reliable, is the word faithfulness. And so just remain faithful, not stealing or being dishonest to your master, but instead demonstrating in all honesty faith. in all matters to bring honor and a positive witness to what? The doctrine of God, our Savior. That was the main thing that they were to think about. I'm not doing this for the master. I'm not doing this for myself. I'm doing this for the Savior.
And so they had a unique privilege and honor to do that and to do it in every station of life. And this is the real message of the grace of God, isn't it? That grace is attractive. Wait, you're not going to rebel? You have freedom in Christ, you're not going to rebel? No. Think of that radical thinking at that time, right? That most people would just say, forget about this and gather into a group and strike, right? That's what you see a lot of people do, but they didn't do that. Christ didn't form that by the leaning of the Holy Spirit. He said, stay there. I'm going to do something. It might not happen right away, but I'm going to show you something amazing because there were some masters that became Christians because of their faithfulness to the Lord, teaching and sharing the doctrine of God, of our Savior. So they were seeing beyond their physical situation, circumstance, and they were using this as a great privilege to be a great witness to their masters. What a wonderful way to share the gospel, amen? Although difficult, what a wonderful way.
So the relationship between servants and masters in Peter's time, let's go back to now Peter's time, where masters held absolute power and servants had no recourse. Again, that dynamic of similar to an employee and employer relationship, if we would bring it up to our situation, there is some partial comparison to be made with the analogy of the modern employer and employee relationship in this is that, look, we also have the opportunity to be a witness for the Lord Jesus Christ, to adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in Titus 2.10, that we don't go and defend ourselves against our labor circumstances and including the right to strike, which in America we have that great privilege, don't we? But remember, there was no such thing in Peter's day, no such thing about doing a strike. So even though it is now our privilege to do it, in a sense, not really, let's go by Scripture. Let's go by Scripture. That is a timeless lesson for all us to know that we're doing it to be a testimony that maybe we, if it's in god's will that he would use you uh to be a witness for the lord jesus christ and they will be saved your boss for example what a what a wonderful way that would that would work out to be right so even though times have changed the principles again from scripture are still totally relevant to today so
One way to say, so believers don't go on strike if you can't resist, okay? So Christians are not to strike, but to work, right? That's the main call. Our main call is to work. That's the reward we see in 2 Thessalonians 3.10. This passage is talking about working hard, working hard, and we are capable of working hard. God has given us the strength and the ability and the know-how to not choose idleness, right? The passage is talking about you're not going to get fed bread if you don't work. Right? Don't choose idleness. You're not going to get a free lunch. You got to work for it. That's what the thrust of 2 Thessalonians 3.10 is. Don't stay in idleness. Don't choose to do that. You have a choice to work. And you're not entitled to get support from the church. Let's not make this, you know, what's the expression today? It's not coming to my mind. But the idea that you're freeloading. There you go. That's the word. That you're not just freeloading from people in the church. That you're not making an excuse because you're lazy. or you want to stay idle, you want to choose to live like that. No, as Christians, we're not to live that way. We should be enabled to refuse laziness, to refuse idleness, and work with our hands. And we got that wonderful testimony earlier today, right? That wonderful Christian example of the floruses. Praise God that all of us would take that example. And let's continue to refuse that idleness that creeps up. Sure, that's a sin, and it is called out as a sin in that passage. Let's call it what it is. It is sin, and let's refuse to go in that direction.
Paul isn't talking about, in this text, by the way, about servants' rights. You don't see any of that here in verse 18, but primarily why about our second, that's when we see 10, because the primarily thrust of it is what's your responsibility as a servant and your attitude towards your boss? So your responsibility just continues to work faithfully to continue to serve the Lord and to have a right attitude toward whoever your your master is, or in our case, our employer to be a good witness.
All right, so let's now go into verse 19, and I'm going to read verse 20 at the same time and then comment on it. So verse 19 says this, For this is thankworthy, or another way of saying this is gracious. If a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully, for what glory is it if when ye be buffeted or beat for your faults, you shall take it patiently. But if when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
All right, so let's unpack this with verse 19, beginning of verse 19. So in verse 19, it's talking about a situation where someone above you is being unfair or treats you unjustly. You have a couple of attitudes to take. One is you can fight against it, or secondly, endure the hardship or grief. This is wisdom. Whenever you hear wisdom, there's always two paths, and only two paths. There's a contrast. There's no middle ground. You've got to take one course or the other, and this is wisdom. What are you going to do? Are you going to be foolish, take the wrong course, or are you going to be wise and take the correct path? This is the passage in verse 19.
So this passage tells you what God expects. This is God's expectation upon you. You, as I'm speaking as a servant in that time, but here in our context, employee, says that this unfairness makes you have grief. He's saying, yes, you're going to feel grief. Absolutely. You're not supposed to feel happy that you're being treated unfairly. So he puts there, you're going to endure grief. Another way of saying you're going to be sad. You might be crying after a session with being treated unjustly. You must be feeling like giving up. Another way of putting it, right? So he tells the servants there this. He understands them. He feels their pain. So it's important not to let that injustice, although you feel that, make you stubborn. oh, you know, that feeling of stubbornness. I'm not going to learn from this. I'm just going to just resist, resist, resist. That's the first foolish attitude, right? I'm not going to learn from this. I'm just going to be stubborn and just resist learning from this. But as a Christian, as taking the wiser approach, it's the right attitude to accept the suffering, to accept it that comes from being treated unjustly, to accept it instead of resisting and being stubborn about it, because enduring suffering for the sake of conscience toward God, you see that? For the sake of conscience toward God means acting according to God, meaning God's expectation of us, not our expectation, not the master or the employer, but God and how he wants to be influenced upon at the heart level.
See, grief is at the heart level. You ever notice that? Grief is at the heart level. He wants to strike at the heart. And he's saying, reflect on this. This word, think worthy. I mentioned it's the word also means gracious or graciousness. The grace that is given to you if you endure the suffering. as part of my sermon text, grace to endure. That's where I got it from, is from this part of the passage. So while the world may see bearing upon this kind of sorrow, this kind of grief as foolish, right? Why are you going through this? Why don't you just strike, right? Instead of that, you're just enduring it because you're thinking it long-term, what God wants, right? And God's word, you consider it as favor upon your life. He's using you to be a witness in where you are at to share the gospel. This is commendable to God. And he will give you grace to suffer that endurance with that kind of attitude.
Yes, you're going to have grief. That's not going to go away. But are you going to do it for the cause of Christ? That's where this text confronts us with. So you're suffering unjustly. And then he wants us to align ourselves ultimately to the example of the Lord Jesus Christ he wants us to align ourselves to the example of the Lord Jesus Christ who endured such trials was he not mistreated was he not suffering unjustly while he was on the earth and responding otherwise would prioritize defending one's right did Jesus defend himself over adhering to his conscience you know he felt the same temptation There's a verse about that. He felt the same temptation that we do, the grief and the sorrow. He was a man acquainted with grief in Isaiah 53. Yet he endured the grief. He is our example. He is our perfect example. And when you're experiencing it the way Christ gave us the example, this is God proving that God's grace is in your life. when you're living out this way, you are proving that you are God's child and you are a recipient of God's grace to be able to endure unjustly. Think about that. Think about the great, again, that freedom we have in Christ that may not look to the world as right. Why are you living like this? This is foolish. Why are you just sucking it up? The world won't understand. Just like they didn't understand Jesus. They won't understand you, but they will look at your life like they would hopefully see one day Jesus. And what a great privilege if that connection happens. Amen. What a great privilege if that connection happens in your life. Again, a wonderful opportunity to proclaim his virtues as visible in Christ. This is truly great grace to resemble him. Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, and he will give us the grace to endure. He will give us the strength to persevere when we are suffered wrongfully.
Let's go into verse 20 now. Verse 20. In this part of the text, it's talking about if a servant decided to rebel, that he will face punishment, probably a beating. That's what that word you see in verse 20 buffeted. If you rebelled, you will receive beating from the master. Those beatings will be what that specific servant deserves. He's rebelling. He's not working. He's just lazy. He's being stubborn. So he's saying, yeah, in those days, masters beat their servants. Not only slaves, but were beaten too. And he's saying, you're right to be beaten. You're rebelling. You're not being a witness for Christ. That's another way of saying what Peter is trying to demonstrate here in this text. And again, that was, again, being a poor witness as a servant who is a believer. So even if someone suffers that way, they might just, who's rebelling, might just even dig deeper. There's a There's a warning here that if you continue to do that, you'll just even get worse. That's the kind of expression this passage is talking about. If you're going one direction, you're going to keep going in that direction. That's the idea. So it's important how one starts. That's wisdom. Amen. You start well. And he says, man, if you're already being beaten, you started off wrong. You didn't take the right course. And he's saying, look, if you're being beaten now, think about why, because you didn't start right. So let's go back. Let's trace our steps back. So he's saying there's grace here. There's still an opportunity to take recourse. So even if someone would be suffering in that situation, they have an opportunity to change course, as I mentioned. it's not pleasing to god right we're putting god before our conscience that's that passage in verse 19 we're thinking about god in this moment of being treated unjustly so those beatings although deserved um god is also extends mercy and um so obviously we're not we're not being beaten in our common uh western culture but are you getting probation Are you being reprimanded for not doing your work, not doing what was instructed of you? If it's good work, obviously, that's the implication being implied here. So is that part of your situation?
So in that situation, go back and go back to the beginning. So anyways, this kind of attitude is completely contrary to God's grace. Another way of putting it, God's not going to give you grace to endure something that you rightly deserve because of your laziness. or because you're just rebelling, or you don't want to be a good witness for the Lord Jesus Christ, why would he give you grace? Why would he give you even more grace in that situation? So you're not going to be able to endure it. You're going to give up, give up. And there were servants that were giving up. So that was something that he wanted to say, look, you're way out here now. Think about it while you're feeling like more grief and you just feel like alone and no one's helping me. Well, maybe because you need to go back, repent, turn back and start the right way. Amen. So they can receive God's grace to endure. So this is the kind of attitude and total dependence that God wants out of us. And not to think about our inherent rights, right? is a great temptation here in America right let's not go to that course let's go to the bigger picture about our witness for the Lord Jesus Christ that's a biblical principle that is unchanging unchanging as we're dealing with a sinful world so when you suffer in this way when you suffer in the right way it brings joy it ought to bring joy towards God that you're not receiving by the unjust suffering. Have you felt that way before when you're being unjustly suffered and you feel this great joy? I'm doing what God wants me to do. Yeah, it doesn't make any sense in the moment, but I am in the will of God.
And that's what Peter wanted to comfort them with. God's going to give you that joy that they can't give you. Even if the circumstances turned out the right way, you're not going to get the kind of grace, the kind of joy that God gives you than what would be merely a human being. And so that's what Jesus received, right? From God the Father. So it mirrors the suffering of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's how we should live our lives as he is our example. A harsh employer can be, another way of putting it, a harsh employer can be God's training ground to help you become more like the Lord Jesus. Have you considered that more and more as a believer, as you mature in Christ, that how important it is that you're a witness for him? Is that burdening you more and more and more? That's God's grace when he shows you that. He doesn't just show that to everyone. He doesn't just show that to everyone. So take that with humility that you get to be that witness for Lord Jesus Christ and for God. So this is precisely what God intends for you when he places you in situations where you suffer for the sake of your conscience. If you have that kind of conscience, that sensitivity, again, that is God's grace on you. That your conscience is not seared, where you're not receiving and understanding what grace means in your life.
So let's now go into verse 21. Verse 21. It says, This is a calling in your life. Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that ye should follow his steps.
I want to end it in this verse, even though it's really connected with verses 22 to 25. This is going to be the bridge for next week's study when we talk about Christ as our example in greater and greater death. But I want to end with this introduction, as it were, to be looking forward to our next week's message, if we're willing, on this passage. And so verse 21 looks at the suffering of That is part of being a Christian. It's just part of being a Christian is this life of suffering. It's not something you just try to avoid the inevitable, meaning like you see suffering coming at you and you're trying to avoid it. That should not be a mark of a Christian. A mark of a Christian is you see the suffering coming head on and you're going, Lord, help me through it. That's a mature believer. You're not thinking about yourself. Help me to go through this situation for your sake, for the Lord's sake. And so that's the kind of idea that verse 21 is helping us to remind ourselves of. That we're not just trying to get through this suffering as quickly as possible as well. I love this analogy of steps. It's not a leap, you notice, which most people call it a leap of faith. That's not strong. It's the steps. And it's whose steps? The Lord's steps. I love that incremental movement and direction because it feels hard. You want to just get out of the situation. I've been there. I know how that feels. But take the word of God as it is, and you'll actually want it.
So let me go into it. So you don't want to quickly avoid it. You want to process it step by step as it were. And Apostle Paul puts it like this in 1 Corinthians 6-7. He talks about why not rather be wronged. And this whole passage is about believers. It's such a terrible thing that in this church in Corinth, believers are taking each other to court. um and um even if you had won in that court it's like he's saying why not rather be wronged even if you think you're gonna win why not rather be wronged he says in first corinthians six seven and sad that um in the in the context of corinth they were thinking like that i'm just gonna i'm gonna win in this way not winning for christ Not win other people to Christ, but to just win for my rights, as it were. They were an immature church. They were believers, but they were immature in many, many ways. And this was one aspect that they fell short on over and over again. Paul had to call them out. He had to call them out. And Paul basically says Christians should rather suffer wrong or get, in another way of saying, ripped off. You ever been ripped off? in your in your business or something it's better to be ripped off by even another believer because believers are taking each other to court saying wouldn't you rather be ripped off and dragged and and not be dragged into a civil lawsuit instead think about this because later on the passage i don't have time to go into it but he's saying the main points to keep the unity and trust in god's ultimate justice don't don't short circuit this process he's saying to the corinthians Let it play through. See what God does with this, with justice. Wait for him. They were just too quick. Again, I just want to, I don't want to suffer. I'm being unjust even amongst believers. Okay. Understand God's ultimate justice in this. Paul's kind of calmed them down. Give them a long view. And instead fighting for personal rights and payback and in secular courts and He's saying you are hurting the church's witness to the lost world. You are doing exact harm to the lost that are coming in. They had lost people coming into that church. And they were terrible, terrible witness to them by their acts, their attitude. And it's tough. It's tough. It's tough to naturally accept injustice. In the flesh, we hate it.
And so it's in this text, and it's for us to examine it and going, yeah, it is tough. Yes, we're going to endure grief. Yes, it's sad. But something we really have to learn again and again and again and again, because sin creeps up, doesn't it? And all sorts of things can be caused harm to the witness of Christ and the church's witness to the lost world. So the real question is whether you and I are up to it to take and consider the word of God over our rights and our wants. This is what this text continues to confront us with. So as Christians, suffering is an intrinsic part of our calling. It starts right there with it's a calling to suffer. It is actually God's call on your life.
So to truly understand endurance and suffering and how to embrace them, we must look to Christ. We must look to Christ. This is the text. It's like, yes, you're going through all of this, but remember this, Peter says. I'm going to help you to focus on Christ in your suffering. So he says in this text, look to Christ. It is only when suffering and endurance are connected to him, that we can gain value and bring joy in our hearts, regardless of the intensity of the suffering. How much did Jesus suffer all the way up to the cross, yet he had joy? Remember that text? The joy that was set before him, he endured the cross. That's contrary to man's thinking, right? The more suffering, the more pain. But yet with Jesus, he had more joy. when he was approaching greater suffering. And we got to think of it that way, brethren, that it's countercultural, the way we as Christians ought to live. But it's not for our sake again, right? It's for the Lord's sake.
So Christ's suffering because he never yielded to the world's evil. He never yielded to the world's evil and desired nothing more than to follow God's plan for him. His journey through the world serves us as our example. He committed no sin, either in deed or in word, because he was completely devoted to God's will. And he completely entrusted everything to him. Not my will, but thy will be done, was his prayer. Knowing that God judges righteously, he knows that God will ultimately fulfill his justice.
So when it says here that Christ suffered as an example for us to follow in this text in verse 21, it's definitely not talking about his suffering to reconcile us as a substitute. That is not that suffering. That is wholly of Christ, what he did on the cross. We absolutely cannot follow that pattern. Because we will learn what that suffering is in 1 Peter 2.24. The kind of suffering we cannot and should not endure because we can't. So here it's mainly talking about the suffering where he is an example for you to follow. You see that is about his entire life leading up to the cross. Everything leading up to the cross was for a example. Everything on the cross, no. No.
So that's our example. He is our example. Our whole life during our time here on earth is his suffering leading up to the cross. He lived in an absolutely sinful world, unclean world just as ours. He was tempted by Satan. He was hated by people even though he loved them. At the same time, he went through the suffering as he could as a merciful and faithful high priest. Hebrews 2.17, Hebrews 4.15, this text talks about Jesus' sacrifice to become compassionate high priest for us. who could sympathize with human weaknesses and sin, right? He was sent to just as much as we were yet without sin. So he can become our merciful mediator between God and humanity. He's the only go-to, another way of putting it. He's the only one that can sympathize with us, that we don't want to sin. We don't want to sin. We don't want to be rebellious. We want to be like Christ. And so he says, think of Christ when you're going through what you're going through and enduring suffering. Because he understood all the trials. He's the only one that understands. He's the only one that experienced what you're experiencing now. and every in every detail yet without sin his entire journey on earth is an example you and i can follow that's the hope that's the courage that's the encouragement in this part of the text so when you do that you are fulfilling god's calling on your life that that will be on your mind on your conscious i am fulfilling god's calling by doing this and god is pleased that's god's plan for your life and if you're looking to understand how to follow christ's example seriously i would admonish you to go over the gospels again and again that is where you will find christ and as an example for us Seriously consider reading the Gospels again and again and again. You'll see exactly how he responded to all the suffering. Look at how he responded to all the suffering without sin. Because they all came, all types of suffering he endured.
So the word example, again, is used to refer to those in a way. They used this all the way back then, and we still use it today. It's the idea of drawing something for a child, and then you would put a piece of paper on that model, and then you would trace over it to create the same model for yourself on your piece of paper. That's exactly the same way that you're doing step by step, one part after the other. And you might not see everything clearly at the first step, nor would you be at halfway. But as you complete the full model, you see the picture. And you go... That's what this part of my life was for. That's what this part of my life of suffering was for. That's what this was in my grief. And then I see it, completion, an example of Christ now seen in my life. And when you end with that kind of hope and you end with that completion, step by step in your life, what hope and more assurance and greater joy that you will see that you have fulfilled God's plan for your life and his calling. That's what it means to follow these examples step by step. If you order your life in that way and you endure it, yes, there will be time and time and time of this again and again. But don't keep your distance from him like Peter did. Don't keep your distance like Peter did, which led him to denying his Lord in Luke 22, 54. After Jesus being arrested, his disciple Peter followed the arresting officers and Jesus went to the high priest's house. Remember that? But he kept the distance because of fear. That's not what we see here in the text. You can only truly follow Christ by example by sticking close to him. by sticking close to him. Then you'll be able to follow in his footsteps. Imagine seeing his footprints in the sand. That's where you put your feet. The further you get, the fainter those footprints become. When you walk behind or right behind him, his example stays really clear. And that helps you walk confidently in the right direction to the end goal, to fulfill your calling in this life. You have a new life. There's so much more about this life that we are to unpack. But it's going to be suffering along the way that's going to be consistently part of it. So I hope that this message is encouragement to you and that you will reread this passage, 18 to 21. Reflect upon it. Look over your footsteps. How close are you on proximity to Christ? How are you in your current situation? May the Lord help you to stay close to him, that you will see his footprints clearly, and that you will be able to endure the completion of your model in your life.
Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Father, thank you so much for the Lord Jesus Christ as an example. that we have the awesome privilege to follow in his footsteps. Father, there are many people here, God, because you have called them to suffering, and many here that are suffering unjustly. I pray for them. Lord, give them the grace to endure as you have been. Help them to be reminded of that grace, to live it out with joy, just like Jesus and his example, all the way leading up to the cross. Father, I pray for them. Pray for more grace. Pray for more endurance. Pray for a greater witness to their respective bosses, if they have a boss, to their respective other employees. May you bless them in their workforce. Bless them as well as students here as well. And also do pray for those that are being rebellious in some way. Father, help this passage to remind them that they have mercy available to them, that they can repent and they can go back and start off right where they began. And I also pray for the lost, Lord, that haven't even started, don't even know what it means to follow after Christ. God, I pray that you would work upon their hearts with this message. Show them that they can live with joy today. and live in a way that doesn't make sense in the world. If they have that sense of that, this doesn't make sense. Father, I pray your Holy Spirit work upon their hearts and help your, I pray your Holy Spirit will help clarify these things as he did with us, Lord, as believers. Because only your Holy Spirit can direct them to the truth, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. None of us can do that here in this room. So I pray for your Holy Spirit's presence also in their life and help them to start with trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ for the finished work that was done on the cross, the suffering that we could not have done, only Christ was able to endure. Help them to see what he endured for them as a substitute on the cross for the payment of their sin so they don't have to receive the wrath of God. and judgment bless in this way father in this mighty way and we'll thank you in jesus name amen
