Well, here we are again, time for another sermon. What really is in your heart at this moment, Sunday night after Sunday night, Sunday morning after Sunday morning? Are you expectant? Excited? Fighting distraction and boredom? Moving quickly into a mental monotone? Hungry to hear the Word of God? Not really sure why you're here? What's in your heart? What's in your mind? What are you really thinking about? What are you seeking in this moment? The passage we're going to look at this evening is radical in many ways.
Spurgeon on a Lamp to My Feet
And as I was thinking about it, I was thinking about something that Charles Haddon Spurgeon wrote when he was thinking of that well-known verse from Psalm 119 that says, "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my pathway." And I thought it would be worth reading his words to you as we begin: "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet." We are walkers through the city of this world, and we are often called to go out into its darkness; let us never venture there without the light-giving word, lest we slip with our feet.
Each man should use the word of God personally, practically, and habitually, that he may see his way and see what lies in it. When darkness settles down upon all around me, the word of the Lord, like a flaming torch, reveals my way. Having no fixed lamps in eastern towns, in old time each passenger carried a lantern with him that he might not fall into an open sewer, or stumble over the heaps of ordure which defile the road. This is a true picture of our path through this dark world: we should not know the way, or how to walk in it, if Scripture, like a blazing flambeau, did not reveal it.
One of the most practical benefits of the Holy Writ is guidance in the acts of daily life: it is not sent to astound us with its brilliance, but to guide us by its instruction. It is true the head needs illumination, but even more the feet need direction, else head and feet may both fall into a ditch. Happy is the man who personally appropriates God's Word, and practically uses it as a comfort and counselor - a lamp to his feet." May God help us to do that this evening. Look, if you would, at your 'Order of Worship' or in your church Bible there to 1st Peter, chapter 2, verses 18 through 25.
The backdrop of this entire letter is suffering. Peter is writing to people who are suffering, and we've commented that the remarkable thing about this letter is it's not just chock full of comfort; there is glorious comfort in this letter, but this letter is really marching orders, and those directives really culminate in verses 11 through 13, where Peter gives his paradigm for Christian living. I've summarized it these three ways: Live like an alien; fight like a soldier; behave like a representative.
And Peter has first applied that to the issue of authority. Now in his most direct way, Peter applies that lifestyle to the issue of suffering. I'm sure that I'm not alone in this room as being a person who doesn't really like suffering. I don't even appreciate minor difficulty! I don't like obstructions of any kind. I want to design my life and have it work according to my sovereign plan. And so these words are important for us as Spurgeon says, not just to give illumination to our heads, but to guide our feet as all of us walk through the darkness of this fallen world; all of us face suffering in some way.
And the way Peter introduces the subject of suffering is by his most shocking discussion of authority. Look at verse 18: "Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust." It's shocking to us that a servant would be called to submit to and respect his master. It seems right to say, "Servants, you don't need to follow those guys because you need to be free." It's not what Peter says. And then he even adds to it, "...not only to those who are good and gentle, but to those who are unjust."
Now I want to say something about this that will frame this in its historical context. Anybody who would read these words would immediately be hit by the radical cultural revolution that is in these words. There were Greek philosophers of the day in which Peter was writing who would say it's impossible to talk about injustice being done to a servant because servants were property. And so for Peter to begin to talk about injustice to a servant is elevating this person saying this person, too, is one for whom Christ died; that grace levels the playing field; that all of us are alike in Christ, and that it's wrong to say that it's impossible for injustice to be done.
Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is recognizing the gross injustice that was often done to people in this situation. But he is saying, "In those moments of injustice, your responsibility is to live submissively to the authority of God, even realizing that in brokenness, that authority is still being exercised through even unjust leaders, and do what is good. Be respectful not just to those who are gentle and good, but to those who are unjust." Now that's Peter's introduction to what is a difficult topic.
Why Do You Struggle With Suffering?
Ask yourself this evening: why do you struggle with suffering? Why do you think that it should not be part of your life? Could it be that we believe that we deserve better, that we can look at other people, and we can reason that, yeah, they may deserve suffering, but not us. And so even the subject confronts our self-righteousness; the subject confronts our feelings of entitlement; the subject confronts the difference in the way that we look at ourselves, and we look at our lives, and the way that God looks at us, and God looks at our lives.
And so I want to introduce you to three very, very significant principles that Peter expounds in this very, very important passage - principles on suffering. Here's the first one - this is an inescapable theme throughout the New Testament - you have been called to suffer. Suffering is not a failure of the plan. Suffering is not an obstruction of the plan. Suffering is not God forgetting what He's promised. Suffering is not the result of God's unfaithfulness. Suffering is at the center of God's will for His people.
Look at verse 19: For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. "For to this you have been called." What is that? "For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrow by suffering unjustly."
You have been called as a representative of the Lord Jesus Christ to suffer for what is good, to suffer for His sake, to suffer for His kingdom, to suffer moments of injustice. And Peter makes it very clear; he says, "For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure?" He's not talking about suffering that's the result of our sin, our weakness, and our failure. Sometimes our suffering is the result of our own rebellion. Sometimes our suffering is the result of our own foolishness.
We have, all of us have, a great ability to complicate our own lives. Sometimes what we call persecution is not persecution at all; it is the result of Christian arrogance and Christian pride and Christian self-righteousness that causes us to be mean and arrogant and condemning as we look at people who don't know the Lord. That's not persecution when there's a push back that comes. And I think we ought to embrace the fact that we do have the ability to turn this message of undeserved grace into a reason for pride and a reason for condemning others.
And we should not ever confuse the anger that people have with that with what Peter is talking about in this passage. Peter is saying, "In this broken world that has forsaken God, His wisdom, His law, you will suffer when you do good." And that's, again, a calling. Now notice what he says here; he says, "For this is a gracious thing." It's very, very interesting that Paul puts God's grace right next to this experience of suffering. This suffering has something to do with God's grace; it's gracious in the sight of God.
What in the world is Peter talking about? And that word there, 'gracious,' is the classic word that the New Testament uses for 'grace.' What is it that Peter is talking about? Well, you can't really understand what he's talking about unless you put this passage in its larger context. When Peter says, "This is a gracious thing in the eyes of God," he's pulling on themes that he's already talked about in this passage. First of all, when I suffer because of allegiance to Christ, when I am willing to lose reputation, to lose possessions, to lose precious things, to suffer even personally for the sake of Christ, that is something that can only ever be born out of worship.
That kind of willingness to personal sacrifice is only going to happen when God is the most valuable treasure in your heart; when there's nothing more important than Him, nothing more important than His honor, nothing more valuable to you than His presence and His love and His grace. And when you worship God in that way, God is pleased and God is honored. There's a verticality to that that honors God. There's a second thing. Peter has made it very clear in the first chapter that God calls us to suffering; He calls us to moments of trial and difficulty because those moments work grace into our hearts.
God uses those hard moments, God uses those moments of suffering to take us beyond the boundaries of our own wisdom and our own strength so that we rely on Him and Him alone. He uses moments of suffering to pry open our hands so that we would let go of the things of this world that we've looked to give us rest and to give us peace and to give us hope, and we would rely on Him and Him alone. In a word, it's a gracious thing to suffer unjustly because God uses those moments to change you, and until He returns or calls us home, we give evidence every day that we are people in need of change.
Suffering as a Witness
There's a third thing this means. God uses our suffering unjustly and our endurance as a witness to the watching world. Remember Peter's model, that you and I are called to live in a representative way. You don't just do that in moments of formal ministry. You do that wherever God has placed you. You live understanding that you represent the Savior, and you don't do that just with your words, but you do that with the way that you live. And so in these moments, when in a righteous way, in a way that's pleasing to God, you are willing to face personal loss for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ, your life is preaching the Gospel.
I would ask you: what opportunities, right now, in the situations, locations, and relationships where God has placed you, is He calling you to preach the Gospel with the way that you live? Maybe it's the subtle persecution of a neighbor who has given himself or herself to make your life difficult, who knows what you stand for and is looking for opportunities to push you, sort of like the Pharisees following Christ around to hear Him teach. They didn't do that because they were open-hearted students of the Messiah.
The Bible is very clear they did that to catch Him and to entrap Him. There are moments when I read the Gospels, and I think If I had been in that moment where Christ was, I would've turned and said, 'Why don't you just leave me alone!?' Christ never did that. Maybe it's people in the workplace who mock your faith, who want to set you up in the situations where you're tempted to bend or break the rules. Maybe it's a relative who thinks you've lost your mind and lets you know again and again that they think you're a fool.
Maybe it's in the workplace where you know, if you would play the unrighteous 'dog-eatdog' game, you could advance, and you watch people who are willing to play politics, and willing to do things that are a bit devious, advance in the workplace, and you know you never will. Maybe it's just wishing that you could be more accepted by friends around you that don't know the Lord, but they will never really accept you, and they will never really let you in because they don't like what you stand for. In all of those moments, hear this: smile - grace is working in your life!
Grace is working in your life! It's an amazing thing that for even one moment you could do anything that would please the Lord, but in those moments when you endure, God is smiling on you. That's a radical miracle of grace that God would ever smile on any one of us! It's an amazing thing that God would love you so much that He wouldn't want you to remain in your sin in any way, so He's pushing you, and pushing you, and pushing you so you abandon your self-righteousness; you abandon your wisdom; you abandon your strength; and you find your rest and your hope in your peace in Him and Him alone, that you let go of the idols of everyday life that will never satisfy your heart, and you find satisfaction in Him.
That moment of suffering is grace! And it's almost beyond believing that somehow, some way, someone would be brought to conviction and be brought to faith because they watch your life, and they're confused about what makes you tick. And they begin to be attracted to what you stand for, and they want to know the Jesus that you know. You see, it's grace; it's grace; it's grace! Oh, we get it so wrong. When's the last time, in a moment of difficulty, you immediately said to yourself, "This is grace"?
Oh, we'll revisit God's faithfulness and His love; we'll envy somebody else. And Peter says, "Don't you understand? You've been called to this, and this calling is a calling of grace." Now Peter says a second thing that's very, very important, verse 21: "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly."
"You've been called to suffer." Second thing Peter would say to us in just sweet pastoral wisdom: "Jesus is your example in suffering." I think all of us, as sin still remains in us, surely have the ability to trouble our own trouble. We have ways of making our suffering worse. And we end up not only suffering the original suffering, but suffering now the way that we've chosen to suffer that has made the suffering worse. And so Peter says Jesus is a wonderful example in suffering. Here's what he says, "He committed no sin."
Suffering Does Not Change the Rules
Suffering does not change the rules of the ballgame. Suffering does not give you permission to do things that God has called you not to do. In fact, in suffering, it is all the more important to believe that what God ordains is right and believe that what God calls you to is right; to not let your morality, not let your ethics, not let your attitude and behavior be dictated by the external circumstances that are pressing in on you. I mean, think of these examples: are you irritable when you're sick?
(Nobody is willing to shake their head.) Do the people around you immediately know when you're having a bad day? Do you, in fact, let down your guard and give yourself permission to do things that you should not do, to have attitudes that you should not have, to say things that you should not say, and you tell yourself that's alright because God and people know you're suffering? Peter says No, no, no! Jesus remained committed to the will of His Father even through injustice, even through torture on the cross, even through death.
That's our example. It says, "He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth." Jesus never sought to lift or alleviate His suffering by compromising the truth. Jesus was never willing to lie himself out of difficulty. Jesus remained committed to His Father. It says also, "When he was reviled, when he was threatened, he did not threaten in return." Jesus did not give Himself for tit for tat. He did not seek to hurt those who were hurting Him. He didn't get down and get dirty. He didn't give himself to vengeance.
Here was Lord God Almighty; He had great and awesome power; He could've called legions of angels, but He was unwilling to do that. Do you know why? The passage tells you: because Jesus was a theist. Jesus believed in God. He believed in the presence, the power, the justice, the wisdom, the sovereignty of the Lord. "When He was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly." Jesus did not believe that this world is driven by fate, that this world is chaos.
Jesus believed that everything that happened happened because of the good, wise, holy, gracious, loving, wisdom of a sovereign God who is the ultimate definition of everything that's right, good, and true. I would ask you: do you really believe that? And I would challenge you, you do not demonstrate that you believe that just because you attend church on Sundays. You demonstrate the true belief of your heart in moments when you are receiving treatment that you don't deserve. It's then that you and I demonstrate whether we really do believe in a Lord of heaven and earth who rules all things by His power, that nothing happens apart from His will.
It's then that we literally demonstrate that we believe "whatever God ordains (are you ready for this?) is right." It's very convicting isn't it? Are you a believer? Are you a believer? In those moments, are there sins that you let creep into your heart, sins that question God's wisdom, sins that question His faithfulness, sins of envy, sins of doubt, sins of fear, sins of anger? Or, do you believe? Is there actually a unity between your confessional theology and your everyday street-level theology?
Do you live what you say you believe? Hear this: theology is not an end in itself; the purpose of theology is to produce holiness in the people of God. Maybe you're sitting there and you're thinking, "Paul, oh my goodness, too high, too high! I don't live this way. I hate to suffer. I hate being mistreated. I want life to be comfortable and easy. I want to be accepted. I want to be validated. I don't want my reputation or my possessions or my loved ones in any way compromised. And this call seems so hard, Paul, how will we ever do this?"
Well, Peter has a third thing to say. Not only is Jesus your example; Jesus is your substitute. "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseers of your souls." Now to comfort us, Peter, like a good pastor, has to humble us first, and he does that by the clearest statement of Gospel provision in brief that you probably have in the New Testament: "He himself (speaking of Christ) bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.
By his wounds you have been healed." What a precious statement of the Gospel! Why is it that at the end of this discussion of suffering that Peter begins to talk about our sin and the provision that Christ has made for our sin? Here's why: your struggle in suffering, brothers and sisters, the deepest struggle in suffering is not, in fact, the suffering; it is your sin, because it is the sin inside of you that causes you to make such a mess of the difficulty that's outside of you. Does that make sense?
Your Greatest Problem Is Not Suffering
Peter is saying, don't you understand that your greatest problem in life is not your suffering? Your greatest problem in life is your sin! That's the thing that destroys and complicates your life, and that sin will complicate moments of blessing as well as moments of suffering. And so Peter says, the greatest need that you could ever have is addressed by the cross of Jesus Christ, so that in moments of suffering, you would experience grace, and you would experience victory, and you could endure all things that you must have redemption for in order to do.
You see, even when I'm suffering, even when I'm facing those moments of injustice, I must remind myself that my greatest problem in life exists inside of me and not outside of me. And for that, I have the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice what he says further: "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness." I've said this to you before: when you're reading a passage of Scripture, and you get to a 'that,' you know what follows 'that' is going to be a purpose statement.
It could read this way, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that, or in order that, we might die to sin and live to righteousness." Now, here's what Peter is doing. Peter is not talking now about just past forgiveness or future hope. Those words actually point to the here and now. Peter is reminding us of the 'nowism' of the Gospel. What he's saying is this: Jesus shed His blood for you so that, in these difficult moments, you would have the power to say no to sin and to do what is right.
Praise God! You see, even suffering preaches the Gospel; because in those moments, I know I can't work up the right response. I know I don't have the strength to go through this. I know I don't have the wisdom. I know this is beyond me. If there isn't a Jesus and if there isn't a Cross, there's no hope for me in this moment. But there is a Jesus, and there is a Cross, and Jesus died so that I could say no to envy; and say no to anger; and say no to doubt; and say no to fear; and say no to jealousy; and say no to vengeance; and say no to sins of the mouth, and walk forward and do what is right, not because I'm righteous, but because I have been made righteous in Him.
Am I excited? Right down to my toes! This is life to this man. And this week as I was studying this passage again, I got to that phrase - "that we might die to sin and live to righteousness" - and in my heart, I was saying, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! Maybe there's hope for me." "By his wounds I am healed." I stand because of Him. And then if that's not enough to celebrate, Peter says, "For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls."
You never suffer outside of the care of your Redeemer because He has drawn you to Himself; you are His sheep. If you are God's child, it's impossible for you to be in a situation, location, circumstance, or relationship that is outside of His shepherding care. The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul [...] Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me [...] You anoint my head with oil [...] Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house the LORD forever (and ever and ever and ever, Amen).
If that is true, brothers and sisters, you can endure; and as you're enduring, your life is bringing God glory; as you are enduring, you're growing in grace, and as you're enduring, you're witnessing to the world. Who but our God could conceive of such a plan? Let's Pray: Lord, we thank you for Your shed blood, Your broken body, the wounds that You received that were for our forgiveness and our deliverance and our healing. Lord, I would pray in this moment, for people who may be here who have never trusted in You, who are still living by their own strength, and who are still trusting in their own righteousness--that in this moment, they would abandon those things and find their hope in Your cross, seeking Your forgiveness, offering their hearts to You.
For those of us who know You, may we celebrate the glory of Your transforming grace even when it comes to us in the vehicle of suffering, knowing that You died that we would have the ability to live righteous lives and knowing that You are our Good Shepherd. Thank you! In Jesus's name, Amen.
