The Suffering Servant

Today is the suffering servant.
Because what we have undergirding that great passage about us,
servants who suffer, is the suffering servant Himself, our Lord Jesus
Christ. I want to take you back, though,
even beyond that passage in verse 18. I want to take you back in
1 Peter 2. to the beginning of this discussion
where Peter had turned the corner and begun to advance upon the
people the severity of the hour and the severity of their call.
Look at verse 11. Beloved, I urge you as aliens
and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war
against your soul. Keep your behavior excellent
among the Gentiles so that in the thing in which they slander
you as evildoers, they may, because of your good deeds as they observe
them, glorify God in the day of visitation. He is concerned,
deeply concerned about their witness. their lifestyle, their
testimony. And he appeals to them to live
rightly before a watching world. And to that end, one of the primary
means of testifying to a watching world is how they conduct themselves
among other people, how they carry out their relationships.
And I have suggested in times past that verse 13, when Peter
urges them to submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every
human institution, that command carries us for almost two full
chapters. It carries us through chapter
two. all the way to the end of chapter two. And it carries us
all the way through chapter three. And at least in part in chapter
four, various things are mentioned that are directly related to
this command. Submit yourselves. It’s something
we do. It’s something we do. The first group that Peter wants
to address as a group is those at work. And we began to touch
on this six weeks ago before we took a hiatus from our hiatus. We are in 1 Peter, which is a
hiatus from Luke. And we took a hiatus in allowing
several of the other men to take the pulpit. It was a blessing
for all, especially me. Verse 18. Verse 18 is where we
were last time. The servants who suffer. We picked
up in verse 18 and I want to take verse 18. We’ll read the
entire passage and I want to go back and pick up a few things
just by way of reminder. Servants, be submissive to your
masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and
gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable, for this finds
favor if for the sake of conscience toward God, a man bears up under
sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if when
you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience?
But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, you patiently
endure it, this finds favor with God. That was our task last time. That was the passage that we
treated, but the passage goes on and it turns its focus to
Christ. Look at verse 21. For you have
been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for
you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, who
committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. And
while being reviled, he did not revile in return. While suffering,
he uttered no threats, but kept entrusting himself to him who
judges righteously. And he himself bore our sins
in his body on the cross that we might die to sin and live
to righteousness. For by his wounds, you were healed. For you are continually straying
like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and
guardian of your souls. Back to verse 18, if you would.
In verse 18, we began this lengthy section where Peter is dealing
with servants, those at work. We talked about the Christian
workforce. We don’t like the idea of slaves
or being called slaves or servants. But that was the workforce in
the society in first century A.D. And to liken ourselves to that
as employees in the workplace in the here and now and our modern
day, even if you don’t like the term, it is what it is. That
was the workforce. And it applies to us. It does
apply to us. We saw, first of all, the mandate
of our submission. Servants, be submissive to your
masters. And you would think that, you
know, that’s a simple concept, but we have gotten so far away
from it. gotten so far away and we talked
at length about that, about the need for us to be submissive
to our masters in an earthly sense. We looked at the manner
of our submission next. With all respect, there’s another
element of our submission that has gone by the wayside, hasn’t
it largely? If you are in a position of authority,
or if you have those in authority over you, you have seen those
that almost show an inability to show respect for their earthly
masters. It’s almost like a right that
they have now to be insolent. Not only to those who are good
and gentle, but also to those who are reasonable. So, every
earthly master is owed some measure of respect. It’s not surprising. See, that’s the excuse that you
usually get. But you don’t know my boss. He’s
an ogre. No, really, he’s an ogre. And
I don’t need to show that kind of respect to him. Yes, you do. If you’re a Christian, this is
what is expected of us. Not only the mandate of our submission
and the manner of our submission, but the motives. Why are we doing
this? Why am I showing this evil, earthly
man who doesn’t know God, who is in a position of authority
over me, why am I showing him respect? And not just respect,
but it says all respect. That means if he has a title,
that you use the title. It means if he gives you a command,
you obey the command. The motive of our submission,
verse 19, for this finds favor with him. Maybe not. Probably
not. Alright, you’re right. Almost
never. He almost never acknowledges that you’re a respectful employee,
but it finds favor with God. For this finds favor, if for
the sake of conscience toward God, a man bears up under sorrows
when suffering unjustly. And he calls us to that lot in
life that nobody really eagerly signs up for that of suffering
as a Christian. It is part of our calling as
a Christian. And so Peter, in essence, pulls
out all the stops. He says, look, I know what you’re
up against. I know that in this first century society, the Christians
are marked out. They’re singled out. I know that
you’re suffering great persecution. I know that you have an ogre
as a boss. And so let me give you some assistance. Let me give you some help. In
fact, let me pull out all the stops and give you the greatest
help that any employee can ever receive.” Sounds great. Let’s have it.
Christ. Christ. It’s the example of Christ. He is the model of our submission. And that’s what Peter lays out
for us in verses 21 through 25. The model of our submission.
This is what we’re supposed to be like. This is who we’re supposed
to model ourselves after. And what Peter does here in giving
us the suffering servant who is none other than Christ Jesus,
our Lord. He is our model of submission.
And what he has in this section is four designs on our life in
Christ. Four things that God wants for
us in our life in Christ as we follow the model. Our model and his call in our
life is our first consideration. His call in our life. Look at
verse 21. For you have been called for
this purpose. Oh boy. I wish you hadn’t said it that
way, Peter, because that means there’s no escaping it. This
is what we are called to. When we are called to salvation,
when we are called to Christ, this is part of the package.
What is this? It couldn’t be any more clear
given the context. It is suffering. It is suffering
and submitting to it patiently. Interesting, one pastor said,
we profess ourselves to be Christians and we never think of what kind
of behavior this obliges us to. A lot of times we don’t even
know what Christ has really done for us. Take your average person
who shares the gospel and their inability to communicate exactly
what Christ has done. I think I shared this some time
ago. There’s a song that we sing sometime, and it’s a good song
insofar as it is, but it’s written by fallible men. And it’s like
trying to gild the lily, articulate things that are impossible, really,
or extremely difficult to articulate. And it says something to the
effect, I remember reading a billboard. It’s similar to the billboard.
The billboard said, life is better with Christ. Oh, really? I mean,
that’s true, but it’s the understatement of the century. The song. It’s gone now. It goes like this, I’m so glad
you’re in my life. I mean, if that isn’t the most
incredible understatement, I’m so glad you’re in my life. He’s
not in your life. He is your life. He rescued you
from the pit of hell. And now if it weren’t for him,
you would be dead, spiritually dead and physically dying. We have a difficult time communicating
exactly what Christ has done. The pastor goes on and he says,
we profess ourselves to be Christians and we never think of the kind
of behavior that this obliges us to. What manner of person
it becomes us to be in all holy conduct. The particular things
that Christians are here called to do are suffering. That is their lot and patience
as their duty, even under the most unjust and undeserved sufferings. That’s the context. That’s what
we’re called to. Remember, Peter had his own thinking
adjusted about this whole thing. Peter and the idea of suffering
and a Savior were completely incongruous. They did not go
together. Polar opposites. Matthew 16, from that time, Jesus
began to show His disciples He must go to Jerusalem, suffer
many things from the elders, chief priests, the scribes, be
killed, race up on the third day. And Peter took Him aside
and began to rebuke Him. God forbid it, Lord. This shall
never happen to You. And so for Peter to write this,
again, as I’ve said before, this is a changed man. You see how
far Peter had come in his thinking? That now he not only embraces
it as a part of his own life, but communicates to the saints,
you know what, look, this is what we’re called to. When we
sign up for Christ, we sign up for suffering. We follow in His
footsteps. Jesus suffered unjustly. He suffered
not for Himself, nor for anything that He had done. He suffered
for us. He suffered in our place. He
suffered for our sakes. He suffered for our salvation. And you know what? That’s an
unpleasant thought. You probably don’t want to start
your next gospel presentation with, would you like to suffer? One Puritan said it this way,
he said, this is a very harsh and unpleasant article of the
gospel to a natural mind, but the scriptures don’t conceal
it. Men are not led blindfolded into sufferings and drawn into
a hidden snare by the gospel invitations. They are told of
it often and they may not pretend to be surprised. John 16, 33. These are the verses that he
alludes to. John 16, 33. These things I’ve
spoken to you so that you in me, you may have peace in the
world. You have tribulation. There you go. Where do I sign? Acts 14, 22, they went about
strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to
continue in the faith and saying through many tribulations, we
must enter the kingdom of God. And they said, oh, great, that’s
great. Where do we sign? Psalm 34, 19. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous. Oh, great, superb. Christ didn’t hide as one Pastor
said that it’s a hard lot of suffering from his followers,
but when he first invites them to engage with them, he gives
them a forewarning of the worst that may befall them in his service
so that they may not be offended when it does come. And it will. Matthew 10, he who loves father
or mother more than me is not worthy of me. He who loves son
or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. He who does not
take his cross That means you get your own. Custom made. With your name on it. Does not
take His cross and follow after me. Is not worthy of me. John
11, 16. Thomas, what a right attitude
for a disciple of Christ. Thomas, who is called Didymus,
said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die
with Him. There’s a saint who is ready
to follow Christ no matter what. The bottom line here is we are
called to patient endurance when suffering unjustly, and it’s
going to come. We don’t deserve it, but it’s
going to come. We may not like it, but it’s
going to come. And when it comes, we’re called
to endure it with patience. As soon as the Holy Spirit calls
people, we get a target, right, on our back. As soon as we move
from the realm of darkness to glorious light, and it is glorious. We become an enemy, as it were,
of the world. And even if it’s just the eye-rolling
of your friends and your family members when you communicate
your new priorities in life, the new principles that guide
your life, the things that you love, the affections of your
heart, when you communicate those and you receive the eye rolls
and the cat calls, that’s the minimum kind of persecution you’re
going to experience. That’s the minimum. But note this, that Christ suffered in the place
of the elect, so that none who are one with him would have any
part of a vindictive wrath to undergo.” Do you hear what the
Puritan there says? He says that when you experience
this, you don’t have to experience it as a shameful punishment from
an unloving God. Whatever you experience is sifted
through loving fingers specifically for you. It’s for you. It’s not vindictive in any way.
So that whatever fatherly displeasure there may be exercised is there
to humble you for the sense of sin. It’s there for a purpose,
but it’s not there just to senselessly shame you. It said there were four designs
on our life by Christ in this passage, our model. First of
all, we looked at our model’s call in our life. Secondly, our
model’s example for our life. God gave us an example, a pattern. Look there in verse 21, the third
little clause. He’s leaving you an example for
you to follow in His steps. That’s our Savior. We’ve been
called for this purpose since Christ suffered for you leaving
you an example for you to follow in his steps. Christians have
been called, as we’ve already determined, to persecution and
suffering, whether it’s in the workplace or whether it’s anything
else that they do. And in all that suffering that
they are called to, We always have to look to Christ as the
standard, as our model, as our example of how to persevere through
it. It’s a beautiful little word,
that word example, hupogrammos. Grammar is embedded in that word. Writing is embedded in that word. And it comes from the way children
were taught to write in the ancient world. You would throw down the
ABC’s in a little block and then you would lay down a piece of
parchment clear, mostly so over it so that you would, in essence,
trace the letters onto this piece of parchment. And he says here,
Peter, by the use of this word is that Christ, Christ is the
model. Christ is that piece of parchment
that we’re supposed to trace. We’re supposed to trace our lives
over how he lived. You say it would be presumptuous
to think that we could pattern our life and imitate Christ and
all of the things that he did. And he’s not saying that we’re
supposed to imitate Christ in making atonement for sin. We
can’t. That’s something that we could never do. That’s why
Christ came. But Christians are bound to imitate
Christ in his moral actions insofar as we’re able, his meekness we’re
supposed to imitate, his humility, his self-denial, his patience,
his suffering. And what Peter does for us here
is give us not an exhaustive list, But he gives us, as it
were, Christ’s resume, his example that we are able to follow. Look at verse 22, we’re supposed
to follow him in holiness when it says that he committed no
sin or was any deceit found in his mouth. Don’t get your hopes
up. Don’t get your hopes that you’re
going to be able to follow this perfectly. But should we give up? Should
we not pursue holiness? Should we not long for sanctification? Should we not long to get rid
of the sins that we just confessed? We should. But Christ was sinless. Christ was perfectly sinless.
He committed no sin. Now, throughout this passage,
from this point forward, you’re going to hear a number of echoes
from Isaiah 53. In Isaiah 53.9, it says that
his grave was assigned with wicked men. He was with a rich man in
his death because he had done no violence. And when it talks
about that, it’s violence to God’s law that it’s talking about.
It’s not just that Jesus wasn’t a man given to going up and bopping
somebody in the nose. It’s that Christ had done no
violence to the law, nor was there any deceit found in his
mouth. He wasn’t a liar. He wasn’t a
deceitful man. He wasn’t a tricker. Christ was sinless when Christ
was arrested. You had a gaggle of people about
Him, none of whom were given to guarding and protecting His
character. And then Pilate comes onto the
scene. Pilate said, In Luke 23, 4, I
find no guilt in this man. This isn’t a man that was assigned
to protecting Jesus’ integrity. Three times he said it after
the crucifixion, one of the Roman soldiers in 22, 47 of Luke. Now, when the centurion saw what
had happened, the clouds and the earthquake and the whole
crucifixion scene, he began praising God, saying, certainly this man
was innocent. Those are the testimonies of
ungodly men. Hebrews four, you know, well,
we do not have a high priest who can’t sympathize with our
weakness, but one who has been tempted in all things as we are
yet without sin. Christ was sinless. There is a lengthy comparison
of Jesus Christ, our high priest to other human priests throughout
the book of Hebrews. One of those comparisons says
in verse 26, it was fitting for us to have such a high priest,
holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted in the
heavens. Christ was without sin completely. We’ve established that in times
past. First Peter 119, which first
we’ve considered months ago, you were not redeemed with perishable
things like silver and gold from your futile way of life, but
with precious blood as of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the
blood of Christ. 2 Corinthians 5.21, which has to
be now one of my favorite verses in all of Scripture. He, that
is God, made him, that is Christ, who knew no sin. He did not know
sin in an intimate way. Certainly, he knew what sin was
from the standard of God’s law, but it didn’t touch him. It didn’t emanate from him. It
wasn’t part of him. He who knew no sin to be sin. I didn’t mean that it permeated
his character in nature. It mean that it laid upon him.
He took on our sin. He who knew no sin became sin
on our behalf that we might become the righteousness of God in him. One pastor said here regarding
Christ’s sinlessness, all of Christ’s words as well as his
actions and all of his thoughts flow from a pure spring that
had not anything defiled in it. And therefore, no temptation,
either from men or Satan, could seize upon him. And I love this illustration.
Other men may seem clear as long as they are unstirred. And what
he pictures is a pool. But move and trouble them and
the mud rises. But he was nothing but holiness,
a pure fountain, all purity to the very bottom. And therefore,
stir and trouble him as they would. He is still just as clear.”
That’s our Savior. He was sinless. Look also in that passage. Not
only was he sinless, he was patient in suffering. Look at verse 23. While being reviled, he did not
revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no
threats. I mean, try that one. We can’t
get through a day without responding and reacting and letting somebody
have it because they let us have it. Right. It’s our nature. But because he was the Son of
God, when these ridiculous crimes were laid on him and charged
to him, he didn’t respond in kind to his accusers. One pastor
said, this is the other thing to which Christians are jointly
called, just as to suffering, so also to calmness of mind and
patience in suffering. Although their suffering be most
unjust, yes, this is truly the part of that duty to which they
are called. to maintain that integrity and inoffensiveness
of life that may make their sufferings at men’s hands always unjust.
In other words, what he says is the suffering may initially
be unjust, but if you respond in kind, you give them an excuse
to punish you. So the entire duty here is innocence
and patience, doing willingly no wrong to others, and yet cheerfully
suffering wrong when done to themselves. That was Christ. That was Christ. Some began to
spit at Him. Marks 14.65, blindfold Him, to
beat Him with their fists and to say to Him, prophesy. And
He received slaps in the face. Luke 22, 63, the men who were
holding Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him,
blindfolding Him and asking Him to prophesy. Who’s the one who
hit you? And that’s the part that’s so
shocking to me. Is that there was ever a time
where Christ was justified? Wouldn’t it have been there?
To rebuke them and to call them out for exactly what they were
and to pronounce upon them the judgment that was their just
penalty. This reviling, this word reviling,
it means to use abusive or vile language over and over and over
again against someone. This is totally unjust what they
were doing to Christ, and he never opened his mouth in kind. One said that during the cruel
hours preceding his actual crucifixion, Jesus suffered under repeated
provocations from his accusers. He didn’t get angry. He didn’t
retaliate against his accusers. He didn’t act out any act of
private revenge. But he referred himself and the
judgment of his cause to his father’s good pleasure. We’ll
talk more about that in a moment. No one could have ever said so
much said one in his own just defense. I mean, can you imagine the king
of the universe, God himself, who had taken on human flesh,
what he could have said to those men would have stopped their
mouths in an instant. No one could have ever said so
much in his own just defense and to the just reproach of his
enemies. And yet in both, he preferred
silence. None could have ever threatened
so heavy a things as he could against his enemies. I mean,
can you imagine that? This very night, you will go
to hell. I mean, he could have said that
to these men and done it. None could have threatened such
things and made good on his threats, and yet no such thing was ever
heard from him.” Luke 22.34, Father, forgive them, for they
do not know what they are doing. Christ’s silence as the Gospels
unfold, His passion, it’s almost overwhelming. Mark 14, Jesus
kept silent and did not answer. Again, the high priest was questioning
him and saying, Are you the Christ, the son of the blessed one? But
Jesus made no further answer. Mark 22, Matthew 22, 26, 62,
the high priest stood up, said to him, Do you not answer? What is it that these men are
testifying against you? Matthew 27, verse 12. While he
was being accused, the high priest and the elders, he did not answer. Matthew 27, 14, and he did not
answer him with regard to even a single charge. So the governor
was quite amazed. John 19, verse 9, he entered
the praetorium again and said to Jesus, where are you from?
But Jesus gave him no answer. It wasn’t that Jesus was being
insolent. It was that Jesus wasn’t responding
in kind to this reviling behavior that these men were giving to
him. And if Christ is our leader to salvation, if Christ is our
Savior and Christ laid down the pattern for us to follow, then we are to suffer likewise. One said that if you have a mind
to Christ, then you shall have full as much of the world’s goodwill
as he had. You know what he says, tongue
in cheek? If you really are a child of
God, then prepare for the kind of love that the world showed
to Christ. If the world hates you, he asks
you to remember how it hated him. There’s a third element
where Christ Exemplified for us here, not only as we said, pardon me, I lost
my spot here for a moment. While being reviled, he did not
revile while suffering. He uttered no threats, but he
kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. A faithful
commitment to a righteous God. That’s what Christ exemplified.
He kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. Now,
I want you to be careful here. A lot of people have taken this
and said, you know, it’s almost like they put this curse on their
enemy. I’m entrusting myself to him
who judges righteously and you too. And it’s almost like this
wait and see and fold your arms and you pray. You go through
all the imprecatory psalms, right? You pray those on them. It’s
not at all what Christ did. to leave your case in God’s hands
is to entrust them into His loving care, almost to pray for them
for their own salvation, that God might turn their wicked hearts. One said that’s the true method
of Christian patience, that which quiets the mind and keeps it
from the boiling, tumultuous thoughts of revenge. You know
what that is? That attitude that entrusts them into God’s hand? That’s passive. a passive version
of vengeance is what it is. You’re wanting revenge. You’re
just not bold enough to call it what it is. You trust them
into God’s hand. You resign it over to Him to
do with what He thinks is best and good and right. There are
most He goes on, who says that if they had the power to do for
themselves, they would be their own avengers. And because they
do not have the power, they offer up bitter curses and pleas to
God for revenge. This is really nothing more than
calling God to be a servant and executioner to our passion. That’s really what we want a
lot of times, isn’t it? On our enemies, we want God to
take over and God to do His thing on them, right? That’s not at
all what Christ did. For those, said one, the oppressed
and suffering people of God who aren’t able to defend themselves
from wrong at men’s hands, they are to commit themselves and
their cause to God their Father as a righteous judge. Not out of malice or out of desire
for judgment upon their persecutors, but as a means to prevent their
own despondency of spirit and despair under their hard treatment.
They just commit themselves to God. That’s what Christ did. I said there were four designs
on our life by Christ, our model. First of all, our model’s call
in our life. Our model’s example for our life.
Thirdly, our model’s aim for our life. What does He want for
us? Look at v. 24. He Himself bore
our sins in His body on the cross. Had I not preached 1 Peter 3.18,
2 Corinthians 5.21, so many of these other grand passages that
speak of this great truth, that Christ took our sins, all of
our sin was placed on Christ, and all of His righteousness
was placed on us, I would say that I could preach this one
verse, this one sentence. This too was taken from Isaiah
53, one of the favorite passages that we have in considering the
Lord’s table. Isaiah 53, for surely our griefs
he himself bore. He took them upon himself, our
sorrows he carried, and yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted. verse 12 of that same chapter.
Therefore, I will assign him a portion with a great. He will
divide the divide the booty with the strong because he poured
out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors.
Yet he himself bore the sin of many. Jesus, our mediator, who
was altogether completely free of any sin, took upon him our
sin. Mark 10. 45 One of the first
verses you’re memorized, right? The very theme of the Gospel
of Mark, the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve
and to give his life as a ransom for many. That’s practically
what Peter meant here. While we were yet sinners, Christ
died for us, who took all of our sin, placed it on Christ
and offered him up as a payment for sin. We could not have paid our own
sin. If we would have all marched
out en masse, all the people, all the people ever desiring
salvation and marched out and put themselves on a cross, it
wouldn’t have paid for a single sinner. Redemption must be substitutionary. It means that Christ paid the
price that we could not pay. We could not have paid our own sin. We could
not have paid our own sin. He paid in our stead and we go free. Reconciliation means the making
of people to be at one by taking away the cause of hostility.
That’s the peacemaking element of the cross. In this case, the
cause was sin and Christ removed that cause for us. We could not
deal with sin. He could and did. Propitiation. points to the removal of divine
wrath. And Christ has done this by burying
God’s wrath for us. It was our sin which drew it
down. It was he that bore it. Was there
a price to be paid? He paid it. Was there a victory
to be won? He won it. Was there a penalty
to be born? He bore it. Was there a judgment
to be faced? He faced it. If Christ is not our substitute, then we still occupy the place
of a sinner that is condemned, aren’t we? If my sins and my
guilt aren’t transferred to Christ, then I still own them. I still
bear the burden of them. But when we come to Christ, We
come for righteousness. That’s what he says here. He
himself bore our sins in his body in the cross that we might
die to sin and live to righteousness. That means a new life, a new
kind of life. Romans 6 speaks of it. We have been buried within
through baptism into death so that as Christ was raised from
the dead through glory of the Father, so we too might walk
in newness of life. It’s a new kind of life that
we’re called to. It’s a life of righteousness and godliness.
There’s a fourth. designed on our life by Christ,
not only our models call an example and an aim in our life, but our
models care for our life. Look at verse 25 and closing.
Where Peter says, for you were continually straying like sheep
and that too taken from Isaiah 53 6. All of us like sheep have gone
astray. You were continually straying
like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and
guardian of your souls. We were alienated from the life
of God. There was a war, Scripture says,
between us and a holy God. But Christ came. Christ came
as a shepherd, a loving shepherd, and He scooped and gathered us
to Himself. And he loved and nurtured and
cared for. And in that sense, those words,
there are no more appropriate words to speak of Christ. The
shepherd and guardian of your souls is the same words that
are used of the shepherds in the church, the shepherds, the
pastors, if you will, and the guardian, that word there, in
a sense, a curious translation. It literally is the word overseer. He is the overseer of your soul.
And what an appropriate title for Christ. The Feeder, the Leader,
the Protector, the Cleanser, the Restorer of the flock. If
it weren’t for Christ, if it weren’t for His aim to come and
to gather you to Himself and to restore you to a place of
dignity and to cleanse you from your sin and to save you, we
would still be wandering like foolish sheep. As we come before the Lord’s
table, as I said, what more appropriate passage? There are many. There
are many passages in Scripture, but what an appropriate passage
is this? The model of our submission to come before Christ, who gave
Himself for us. that we might die to sin and
live to righteousness. Let’s pray. Glorious God, we thank you that
as Peter intended this to be initially a statement of encouragement
to submit ourselves to earthly bosses. Lord, he unfolded the
greatest and glorious truths of the gospel. The Christ suffered
and died for us. He paid our penalty on that cross. Lord God, we thank you for our
shepherd and guardian. We thank you for our payment
for sin. We pray these things in Jesus
name. Amen. Just a final word as we prepare
to receive the elements. As always, we will distribute
the elements to everybody. And if you will hold them to
the end to partake, we will all partake together. If you would
also, our fencing, if you will, of the Lord’s table is simple.
We don’t put any other commands on you other than what Scripture
does. If you are a child, a young person,
and you have not spoken to the elders of the body so that we
can confirm your readiness to partake of the elements, we would
ask that you wait. Talk to your parents. We encourage.
In my opinion, I don’t think enough of the children in the
church are partaking of the elements. I believe there are more children
who have come to Christ who should be partaking of the elements. If you’re not a member of the
church, that’s OK. If you’re a member of Christ’s
body, if you’re a Christian and you are in good standing in another
church and you’re visiting with us today, the command is clear. You are to partake. You’re just
to partake worthily. And that means having your sin
confessed. If there’s something between
you and someone else, you need to make a beeline to make it
right. It’s not a denominational table,
it’s a table of Christ.