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[0:00] Take your Bibles this morning and open them to 1 Peter chapter 2 and you can go ahead and find verse 18.

[0:21] Written by the Apostle Peter and we're making our way slowly but I think meaningfully at least I hope so.

[0:37] And we'll be to that text here in just a moment but I've decided to kind of introduce the message by throwing all caution to the wind. And introduce the message this morning with a, for many, highly offensive four-letter word.

[1:00] I'm just going to begin with that this morning. And so if, you know, if your sensibilities are such that you are offended by four-letter words, then you might want to take these two fingers and stick them in your ears.

[1:14] Actually, I would recommend that you not do that so that you can hear this word because this is part of the introduction to the message. Are you ready? Here's the word. Work.

[1:27] That is a four-letter word, isn't it? W-O-R-K and, you know, sadly, that is an offensive, with some highly offensive, four-letter word.

[1:43] Work. Now, I'll go ahead and tell you here also on the front end that I do have an even more offensive word for you, only it doesn't begin, or it doesn't have four letters, it has six, and we'll get to that in just a moment.

[1:55] But, listen, just by way of introduction, work is a noble practice of life. It is something we ought to be involved in.

[2:07] Every one of us ought to have a good biblical work ethic. And whether you are an employee, and nearly all of us are in some sense or another, or you're an employer, or put in a position of being a supervisor or boss or whatever term may be used at your place of work.

[2:35] Whatever context of your life in relation to this four-letter word, work, your work ethic. Your work ethic. Now, listen, right?

[2:46] Listen to me clearly. Your work ethic reveals your worldview. Let me put it another way because maybe worldview is not a concept that's familiar to you.

[3:04] So let me put it this way. Your work ethic reveals what you believe about God and about His Word. It really does.

[3:17] How you conduct yourself at the workplace. I'm getting real serious right here on the front end. How you conduct yourself there.

[3:29] Whatever capacity you serve at the workplace, whether you're a boss, a supervisor, or you're an employee, maybe you're, you know, a highly professional person in your line of work, or maybe you just are kind of on the lower end of it, you know, flipping hamburgers at McDonald's, which is still a noble work to do.

[3:56] Regardless of where you are in the strata, how you conduct yourself at the workplace reveals a great deal about what you believe about God and what you believe about His Word.

[4:14] A biblical work ethic, I would even say further, a biblical work ethic puts the gospel on display for all to see.

[4:26] I bet you hadn't considered that. It becomes a part of our witness. Our work. And how we conduct that work.

[4:38] How we function there. How you function in the workplace on Monday says a great deal, serves a great deal in validating what I preach on Sunday, rather.

[4:52] And what you also preach or speak verbally about God and about the Lord Jesus and about the Word of God and about the Gospel.

[5:04] It serves to validate that message. That's very important to get. Our ultimate goal, your ultimate goal, my ultimate goal, in regard to gainful employment, is evangelism.

[5:20] By the way. Using evangelism of the Word in kind of the broadest sense of the Word. How we evangelize this lost and unbelieving world.

[5:36] So, really, how you conduct yourself at work. Pretty important, isn't it? Now, that serves, I think, adequately to lead us to the text.

[5:48] And so, I want you to find 1 Peter chapter 2, if you haven't already. And I'm going to begin reading with verse 18. And I'll just read all the way to the end of the chapter.

[5:59] Because this all goes together. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear. Not only to the good and gentle, which is the easy part, but also to the harsh.

[6:18] For this is commendable. If because of conscience toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?

[6:35] But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called.

[6:47] Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps. Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth.

[6:58] Who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return. When He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him, that is, to God the Father, who judges righteously.

[7:10] Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose stripes you were healed.

[7:25] For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Now, in this passage, you don't find the word work.

[7:40] It's not there. And I introduced this message with that word. Said it was a four-letter word. And if you thought that was a naughty four-letter word, then a more offensive word for many of us, I think, would be the word contained in the text.

[7:55] And it's not four letters, it's six letters, and it's the word submit. Submit. Submit is much more difficult for us. It is a word that we all have, if we would admit it, we all have a problem with it.

[8:13] Now, in some areas of life, submission is not hard. But in other contexts, other aspects of our lives, it is hard.

[8:25] And it's just born into us, that is, into our sinful nature, to have a resistance, a natural resistance against this notion of submitting to any authority.

[8:39] And we've already covered that ground quite a bit, quite extensively, in the course of me teaching through this book. We've talked about God's principle of authority and submission, and we've talked quite a bit about submission.

[8:52] In fact, that's what Peter is doing here, is he kind of gives us some practical, ethical ways that we're to live as born-again believers. And he is touching many different contexts of life.

[9:05] We've already seen the context of government, civil government. And now we're here in the context of the workplace. And eventually, we're going to get on into chapter 3.

[9:16] And there, the context of the marriage relationship. And in each of those contexts of life, the key principle is submission.

[9:29] And we don't like that. It's a naughtier word to us, a more offensive word to us, than the word work. Submit, he says. And I assure you, and I really mean this, that what Peter teaches us here about submission is contrary to our customary way of thinking.

[9:48] It really is. And therefore, it requires a radical transformation to take place in our thinking and ultimately in our conduct.

[10:02] And so this is the subject. Now, before we look at what Peter has to say to us, and kind of pick this apart and apply it to the workplace, let me just make an important point of clarification.

[10:14] Because someone might say, you know, Pastor, as you were reading that text and I was following along in my Bible, the Bible here, this passage, pertains to slaves and masters and it does not apply to our society today and so therefore, it does not apply to me.

[10:35] And you're wrong if you think that. You see, the word that Peter used here for servants is a very specialized word. Now, don't misunderstand me.

[10:46] He's talking about slaves. But he chose his word carefully here and it is the Greek word oiketes, the root of which is the word oikos, which means house.

[11:02] And so what he's talking about here is a household slave. You say, well, so what? Well, when Peter wrote his letter, the dominant feature of his world, the Roman world, the dominant feature in his society was slavery.

[11:20] I mean, it was the main thing. And by far, most of the early Christians, the ones to whom he was writing here with this letter, by far, the majority of them were slaves in some form or another.

[11:36] Specifically, household slaves. And there's a difference there. Because a household slave would include everyone from just the common worker, that is, the one who's working out in the fields or, you know, digging in the dirt or serving in some very menial context, all the way from the common laborer to the most educated of doctors and nurses and teachers and bookkeepers and, you see, so, household slaves functioned in the capacity of taking care of every point of business.

[12:21] And so, the crossover from master-slave in the sense of household-slave over into employer-employee context is a clear one.

[12:34] That's what, how we ought to apply it today and how I believe the Holy Spirit intends for us to apply it here. Because, you see, the word Peter used for masters is the word despot-taste.

[12:49] Might sound a little familiar. In fact, in our English it would have a very negative connotation. it's the word despot. And maybe many of us don't know what that means.

[13:00] Well, in the English usage it means something quite severe, quite evil. But in the Greek it simply means owner. Master.

[13:12] Now, it's a strong word in the sense of master in the supreme or absolute sense. A master. But there is no reference here to the character.

[13:25] of the master. And that's important to understand here. He's not using the word despot-taste in some kind of negative connotation. That all masters are cruel because they have slaves and that's morally wrong and so they must be cruel people and so forth.

[13:44] But that's not the idea here. Not what Peter's trying to convey. The primary objects of the passage are those in authority and those in submission.

[13:58] That's what we need to keep foremost in our minds as we analyze what Peter is trying to say to us and teach us here in this text. The idea here is not slavery per se and the right or wrongness of that.

[14:11] He doesn't even deal with that. The idea here is the context of master servant. Authority and those in submission.

[14:22] Those who are over and those who are under. And you can fill in the blank there. Whether it is those who are over in the sense of masters or those who are over in the sense of employers or bosses or supervisors or department heads or whatever terminology is used in your place of work.

[14:48] As opposed to or in contrast to those who are under. And you can fill in the blank there. Be it slaves, servants or employees.

[15:00] The idea here is those in authority, those in submission. And the focus, of course, is upon those who are in a place of submission.

[15:12] And Peter directs his teaching here to all Christians in his context, those he was writing to, all Christians in the context of our society, our culture today.

[15:26] His focus is all Christians who are under such authority, be they servants or be they employees. Because you see, today, we willingly place ourselves under the yoke of employment.

[15:44] employment. And so, there's a similar concept here. We willingly do that. You say, well, I didn't willingly do it. Well, you've got to pay your bills and you've got to buy food for the table and you've got to take care of the kids and things like that and keep up your car payment and things like that.

[16:03] And so, you've got to go to work. But really, it's deeper than that. We ought to have a work ethic. We ought to be working whether we have big debts or not. But the bottom line is, we willingly, in our society, in our culture, we willingly place ourselves under the yoke of employment.

[16:21] We willingly give up certain rights. Now, listen to me. We willingly give up certain rights to call the shots and become servants for 40 plus hours per week.

[16:39] And maybe for you, it's less than 40. But we willingly do that. We place ourselves in a position of submission as, in a sense, servants to a master.

[16:52] And that's the idea here. And how we conduct ourselves. This is the main thought, my main idea, and I've already said it once, I'm going to repeat it again.

[17:04] How we conduct ourselves in the workplace speaks volumes to an unbelieving world about the God we say we know, about the Bible we say we believe, and about the gospel we say is true.

[17:25] this is very important for our culture today. And especially given the trends today that really are conveying the idea of a downgrading of a work ethic in our society.

[17:56] A work ethic that includes submission to authority. Very important. Now how does Peter spell this out for us?

[18:06] Well, in four progressively significant ways. Number one, Peter says to us here that we are to submit respectfully.

[18:19] submit yourselves respectfully. Look at verse 18 again. Servants, we can just insert the word employees, be submissive to your employers with all fear.

[18:43] With all fear. Not only to the good and the gentle, but also to the harsh. we're to submit ourselves in all or with all fear.

[18:54] And the word fear is in the New King James version. Now you may have another word there. We'll get to that in a minute. But the literal translation of the word that Peter chose here is the word fear.

[19:08] It's phobos. We get our word phobia from it. Fear. That's exactly what he's saying. And we've already seen this word in our study of 1 Peter.

[19:21] And we're going to see it again a couple more times in this marvelous letter. It's right here in, if you'll notice, in verse 17, just the verse right before verse 18, you have it there.

[19:32] And there Peter says, fear God. That's the same word. Phobos. Fear God. We saw it way back there in chapter 1 and verse 17 when Peter instructed us or commanded us, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay in phobos, in fear.

[19:53] In fear. And I spent some time explaining what that means way back when. And we're going to see it again in chapter 3 in verse 2 and again in verse 15 of chapter 3.

[20:06] The word phobos appears five times in this letter, this very short letter in 1 Peter. And listen, this is the most important thing. Each time it appears without exception, its object is primarily God.

[20:26] That's the way it is here in verse 18. Though he doesn't come out and say it explicitly, it is implied each time, all five times in the book of Peter, phobos is used with God as the object.

[20:44] Primarily. We're to fear God in the workplace. We are to fear dishonoring God at the workplace.

[20:58] We are to fear degrading His character at the workplace. workplace. We are to fear diminishing His infinite worth at the workplace.

[21:14] The closest English word we can come up with would be, really I think, would be the word revere. We sometimes translate it that way, fear, into reverence or to revere.

[21:27] Or we might even use two words, highly esteem. I think would be a valid translation. in some of our versions of the Bible you'll find the word respect.

[21:39] Respect. Though I think that's a little weak. I really do. Not weak because it was a weak word when the translators use it or that it's incorrect but because of what that word has become in our culture.

[21:53] It just doesn't carry the same force as fear. Now fear carries a negative connotation so we need to explain that and I've tried to do that. But maybe the word revere.

[22:06] To highly esteem. Now the question is why should we submit to our bosses, our supervisors, our department heads, our employers, or whatever term you use.

[22:19] Why? Because we fear God. We respect God. We highly esteem the person of God in our lives.

[22:33] You see, you cannot always respect your bosses, can you? You can't. Not any of them all the time and not some of them any of the time. Right?

[22:47] And if society is going to work, this society, if it's going to work with all of its problems, all of its shortcomings, with all of its twisted and distorted things and negative things a part of our society, if this society is going to work, if it's going to be functional, be productive, if it's going to be peaceful and continue to be free, then I must conduct myself in the workplace as though the real boss was God himself.

[23:22] That's the idea here. It's very clear. God, by the way, is the author of work. In fact, I would say that God is the author of the social order of things.

[23:40] That includes the work context, employer, employee, or master or servant type of context.

[23:53] God's the author of the social order of things. He designed it. And contrary to the current way of thinking in America, for sure, God's design does not include absolute equality for all.

[24:09] He's saying, wait, that can't be right. It is right. God didn't design it that we all would be absolutely equal in every way. Someone has to lead and others have to follow.

[24:22] for it to work. I mean, this is just common sense. We may not like it, we may not like our position, and maybe we'd like to be the leader instead of the follower, and we'd like to be a chief instead of an Indian.

[24:38] Maybe we don't like that, but that's just the way it is. For a society to function, and to be productive, and to be peaceful, and to not be full of constant anarchy, no matter whether we're talking about the work relationship, or the government, context of government, or whatever context, for it to work right, some have to lead, and some have to follow, some have to call the shots, and give the orders, and others have to submit and obey for it to work, if it's going to work right.

[25:12] And we're to submit to our masters, and do it with all respect for God, our supreme master, because God has set it up that way for the good of humankind.

[25:26] Right? You're not so sure, are you? It works. And it works every time. Every time.

[25:39] Even in those cultures that are predominantly pagan. This kind of work ethic that Peter's teaching works for unbelievers as well as believers, for pagans as well as Christians, for entire societies, whether they're pagan or Christian, or somewhere in between.

[26:03] Works every time. I don't know about you, but I have been just really enthralled by the Japanese people. a culture, by the way, that is predominantly pagan, where Christianity is not the main thing there.

[26:22] In fact, Christianity is very difficult to share the gospel in Japan. Not that it's illegal, but it's just not a Christian nation. And yet, the work ethic of the Japanese people.

[26:37] And a work ethic, by the way, though it's a shame culture, that includes submission to authority.

[26:50] And it would be absolutely shameful to disrespect another person, especially your authority. We could learn some things by that.

[27:03] Really. I mean, the whole ordeal as sad as it's been there in Japan has been very enlightening, I think, in regard to a culture that really exhibits some very biblical things.

[27:21] Not that they are biblical or Christian, but it just bears testimony to the fact that God's principles work no matter where they're tried and no matter in what context they're tried.

[27:33] They work. And that, by the way, is the bare minimum here in what Peter is teaching us. The bare minimum. We're going to go much deeper and need to go much deeper.

[27:43] Peter's going to lead us much deeper. You see, you can almost hear the objections from Peter's readers. And, you know, I can almost hear some of those objections from some of you.

[27:58] Like, you know, like, Pastor, Pastor, you don't know the people I work under. Or, Pastor, you don't know how my supervisor treats me.

[28:10] Are you saying that God designed that? That kind of thing? That kind of treatment? Are you saying that God ordained cruel bosses and supervisors?

[28:25] No, I'm not saying that at all. You see, every institution designed by God has been designed by God for the well-being of society. And let's just name a few of them.

[28:36] There's the institution of marriage, which, by the way, came first. Designed by God for the good of humanity. The institution of government. The institution of civil enterprise, which is somewhat a good way to call what we're talking about here.

[28:56] Even the church. These institutions, they all work right? All the time? No. But every institution designed by God for our well-being can be corrupted by sinful man.

[29:14] And usually is corrupted by sinful man. Whether you're talking about the employer employee relationship or you're talking about the master slavery relationship, the context of civil productivity is designed by God and can be and often is corrupted by man.

[29:41] And so I would say, did God ordain slavery? No. Certainly did not. Slavery is wrong. Always has been. corruption. It's a corruption of God's design of the order of things.

[29:55] And slavery is a sinful distortion of that. Of social productivity, social living. slavery was the reality in Peter's day when he wrote this letter.

[30:09] And this is interesting and maybe it would bring up a question in our hearts and minds, but rather than seek its abolition, God directed Peter to remind his readers of his ordained principle of submission to authority.

[30:24] God just, you know, I got to thinking about it. You know, he really could have stirred up some things if Peter had written this letter a little bit differently. Someone had said, just think of the riots and protests that Jesus and the apostles could have led in their day if their approach was to do away with, to abolish this whole structure of slavery.

[30:50] Yeah, it's morally wrong, but God didn't approach. In that sense, he approached in giving instruction to the slaves to submit to their masters so that society would function and work.

[31:07] That's what he did. And that principle works. That principle honors God. Even under the most cruel and immoral situations, the principle still works.

[31:24] no matter how corrupt. You say, Pastor, even when my employer is unfair, yes, it works then.

[31:37] You say, even when my boss is wrong, yes. does it work?

[31:50] Does submitting to my supervisor work even though my supervisor happens to be incompetent? Yes, it works.

[32:02] And God will bless it and God will be honored. I mean, really, look at the rest of verse 18. not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.

[32:18] You have to understand what he's saying. He is saying he's commanding, God is commanding us. For us in the context of worker to boss relationship, he's commanding us to submit to those in authority over us.

[32:36] Yeah, to those who are kind and benevolent and good leaders, good bosses, and even to those who are cruel. That's the word used in this version.

[32:50] We could use the word crooked in there. Cruel, harsh, twisted, corrupted.

[33:04] The word that Peter used is the word we get our word scoliosis from. We understand what that is. A curvature, a twisting of the spine.

[33:17] And that's what he's saying. Submit, and it will work. This will honor God. Submit to those in authority over you, even those who are cruel and twisted.

[33:32] And it will work. Let me bring in another passage real quickly. Ephesians chapter 6, kind of a parallel passage, and I may revisit this tonight.

[33:46] I haven't decided, but if you look at Ephesians chapter 6 and verse 5, or you can listen to it as I read it. idea. Bond servants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh.

[34:00] it's the same idea. Submit to them. And how are you to do it? He says, with fear, there's that idea again, fear and trembling.

[34:14] In sincerity of heart, as to Christ. Not with eye service, not just when they're looking, or evaluating.

[34:36] Not with eye service as men-pleasers, but as bond servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, with good will, doing service as to the Lord.

[34:51] And there it is again, as to the Lord and not to men. It's very clear. So, we're to submit ourselves respectfully. Number two, and this goes much deeper, submit yourselves worshipfully.

[35:12] Worshipfully. Look again at verse 19. for this is commendable if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.

[35:32] For this is commendable. Have you ever considered that how you conduct yourself at the workplace, at your place of employment, is a reflection of what you believe about God?

[35:43] Have you ever really considered that? because how you conduct yourself, not only the workplace, but any place, how you conduct yourself, is observed by those around you.

[35:57] They take note of those things, and have you ever really considered that how you conduct yourself at your place of employment is a reflection of what you believe about God, who He is to you, what He means to you, most important, what His worth is to you.

[36:15] That's why I say that we're to conduct ourselves worshipfully. That's what worship is all about. It's expressing the great worth of God to us.

[36:30] I bet that you have never considered that your 20 or 30 or 40 plus hours a week is part of your worship to God. it adds a whole new outlook on this thing of employment, of work.

[36:51] Those hours you spend at the workplace each week, that's your work week worship service. Really, literally. It is.

[37:03] And that's what Peter's talking about here. And there are two things that Peter says in verse 19 that make this pretty clear. He says, number one, for this is commendable. Do you see that? Now, you may not have a translation that puts it quite like that.

[37:16] And actually, I think this is probably not the best of translation. The word is charis. Charis, and it's typically translated grace.

[37:32] Charis. Talk about charismatics or charismatic gifts. grace. Those are grace gifts. Grace. Charis, grace.

[37:43] It's translated grace. Sometimes it's translated favor. I would take either of those pretty good. And that's how it is in some versions of the Bible. If you have a New American Standard Bible, for example, it probably reads, for this finds favor.

[37:59] What finds favor? Submission to your masters. Respectfully. that finds favor. If you have an ESV, it says, for this is a gracious thing.

[38:11] Bringing out the meaning of the word. Charis. Now, what is the idea here? Well, submission to your bosses pleases God. It's pretty clear. Submission finds grace with God.

[38:22] Submission finds favor with God. See, this is more than just a command to obey. This is a grace to receive from God. in the way we conduct ourselves at the workplace.

[38:35] But let's see what Peter says next here. And we'll put this all together. He says in verse 19, for this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God, do you see that?

[38:53] Conscience toward God, or more literally, consciousness of God. Now, what is that? That means that you are aware of God's presence there at work.

[39:11] You're aware of His presence. Not just cognitively, but experientially. And as a Christian, no matter where you are, and no matter what you're doing, we're to have a consciousness of God.

[39:29] That is, to be aware of His presence. You're to be conscious of, to acknowledge Him. You see, this is what makes everything we do a part of worship. And not just what we do here, on Sunday mornings and Sunday nights, where we call it the worship service.

[39:47] Everything we do is a part of our worship. And the point is, you find grace, favor, with God when you submit to those in authority over you, whether they're cruel, or whether they are benevolent and kind, no matter what kind of boss they are.

[40:05] And so, when you do it because your desire is to please your heavenly Father, who is always watching, then you find favor with Him.

[40:17] See, worship is a big deal with God. It really is. And not just what we do here. Again, I tell you, this is a big deal with God. What we do here on Sunday morning and Sunday night.

[40:29] And I guarantee you that Jonathan takes this very seriously. And I take this very seriously. And every element of our worship team, in a sense, takes it very seriously. Worship is a big deal with God.

[40:40] And how we do it is important. And it's a big deal with God in all other aspects of worship. You know, there are Christians today maybe some right here in this room who are struggling spiritually.

[41:03] There may be some right here today who find themselves weak spiritually. Some right here in this room today who find themselves under the discipline of God.

[41:22] And you're wondering why. And, you know, you possibly begin to alibi. I'm faithful to the church.

[41:37] I mean, I serve faithfully. I attend worship regularly. I tithe obediently.

[41:49] maybe even generously. I live my life morally. So, why Lord? Well, the answer is, though you are doing all of those things, it could be that God is offended by the way you're conducting yourself at the workplace.

[42:15] place. Because that matters with God. Maybe a poor work ethic.

[42:29] Maybe it is insubordination. And you've justified it, rationalized it, based upon maybe an incompetent boss.

[42:39] or an unfair boss. Or maybe inadequate compensation. You're not getting paid enough. Maybe it's disloyalty to the people you work for.

[42:59] Maybe it's just a stinking attitude. You know, you obey, but your teeth are going to show that you don't want to.

[43:13] Or just this kind of shadow or downcast countenance that shows all over you as you kind of sort of function in your capacity as a worker.

[43:28] Kind of your way of letting your boss know and everyone around you know that you're not happy and you're not being treated right. And I'm going to do what I'm told, but that's all I'm going to do.

[43:41] A stinking attitude. A complaining tongue. Hey, I know a thing or two about this.

[43:56] I've been on the working side as well as the boss side. I know the conversations that go on in the break room, around the coffee maker and the complaining and bitterness.

[44:17] I've been on the boss side and have issued those requests. Do this and do that and we want you to do this.

[44:28] And I've seen the resistance and the look on the face and the insubordination. I've been on both sides of this. I know a thing or two about it.

[44:41] I've been guilty of some of these things. These things are big deals with God. A critical spirit. I guess we could go on and on with that.

[44:54] But the question is, what kind of worshiper are you at work? you may be a great one here. But it matters to God what kind of worshiper you are.

[45:11] Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. You say, but now, pastor, I hear all this and I hear what Peter's saying, but Peter didn't know about me.

[45:31] He didn't know about the way I'm treated at my place of employment. Peter didn't know anything about that. And you know, you're absolutely right about that.

[45:44] I'll give you that much. Peter could not have imagined how easy you have it. Even the worst case scenarios, that we might be able to come up with here in our culture.

[46:00] Peter didn't know anything about that. Slavery was what Peter had on his mind, and in his day, slaves had no rights. In Peter's day, slaves were non-persons.

[46:12] Aristotle described slaves as animate tools, animate tools, so that they could be distinguished from inanimate tools.

[46:25] So, whether it's a shovel or it's a slave, the only difference is one is inanimate and one is animate. They were non-persons. And that's why Peter wrote what he wrote there in verse 18.

[46:42] Not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh, those who are cruel. For this is commendable. if because of conscience toward God, one endures grief, suffering wrongfully, what credit is it if when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?

[46:59] Can you imagine that? That your boss would actually beat you because you did something wrong. But not just that, but when you do good and suffer if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.

[47:15] And so, you know, it was a cruel world in which Peter lived. And the people to whom he was writing were slaves and some of them were serving under cruel masters.

[47:29] I think our objections, you know, I don't know that we can put those side by side with the objections of Peter's day. We're to submit ourselves respectfully we're to submit ourselves worshipfully.

[47:49] And let me give you a third one. Submit yourselves purposefully. Would you notice what he says there in verse 21?

[48:01] First phrase of verse 21? For to this you were called. that is to this purpose, for this purpose.

[48:18] You were called. What purpose? Well, what he said in the previous verse. To do good and suffer. Is that what he meant here?

[48:33] Yes. Grammatically, as he's riding along, he said, but when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God, this finds grace with God, for to this you were called.

[48:49] You were called for what? To good and suffer for it. That's a principle of Christianity.

[49:02] That when we do good, we suffer for it. Every time? No, not every time. But in the context of Christianity, though we may not experience it as much in this society and culture, we do experience it when we do good, we suffer.

[49:22] And we've been called to that. Yes, we have. By the way, when he says to this you've been called, he's talking about your salvation.

[49:33] You've been saved for this reason. God was gracious to save you and leave you and me in this world to exemplify Christ who did good and suffered for it.

[50:00] it's part of our identification with Christ. And it's going to be that way as long as we live here. How are we to handle that? Exhibit the life of Christ who also did good and suffered.

[50:22] That's the purpose of this. And it goes beyond that. And so I would add very quickly because we're running out of time that we need to submit ourselves meaningfully.

[50:35] The purpose is, you see, you and I have been saved, saved for a number of reasons, by the grace of God, but we're saved and left here to live in the context in which we live.

[50:48] That includes several different segments, be it our kind of civil context, marriage context, we'll get to later, the kind of civil work context.

[50:59] We've been saved and left here knowing that we are going to be treated just like Jesus was treated while we're here, who did good and suffered. And when we do good, we're going to suffer.

[51:15] That is, if we'll submit to that. God's love. And by doing that, it becomes very meaningful.

[51:28] In fact, I might even prefer the word evangelistically. That we submit evangelistically. That we actually exhibit the person and character and supreme sacrifice of Christ who bore his cross and commanded us to carry our cross too.

[52:00] That's why Peter caps this off with Jesus here. The example of Jesus. Jesus suffered for us.

[52:14] Verse 20. He suffered for us. He suffered vicariously. And sometimes you and I are called upon in the workplace or in the marriage relationship or in the government civil relationship.

[52:31] We are called upon to suffer vicariously as a substitute for someone else. To stand in the gap for someone else. To sacrifice ourselves.

[52:41] He suffered vicariously. He suffered figuratively leaving us an example. You see Peter includes these very profound truths about the gospel because what Jesus did on the cross was not only for our atonement redemptively he not only suffered on the cross to save us but he also suffered as an example for us.

[53:08] In how we are to also live our lives. And to bear our cross. So he did it figuratively. He suffered vicariously. He suffered unjustly just like we also suffer unjustly.

[53:22] Who committed no sin. Verse 22 Who was nor was deceit found in his mouth. He suffered unjustly.

[53:33] He suffered silently. Verse 23 Who when he was reviled did not revile in return. When he suffered he did not threaten but committed himself to him who judges righteously.

[53:48] So he suffered. Jesus suffered vicariously, figuratively, unjustly, silently. He suffered submissively. He committed himself.

[54:01] And here's the whole idea back here when Peter says that we are to be conscious of God and we are to submit respectfully. because that's what Jesus did.

[54:13] He was submissive. And who was he respecting? Who was he really submitting to? God the Father. And so in his cruel treatment he kept on entrusting himself to the Father.

[54:31] And that's what we must do in the workplace. And if you are returned suffer or evil for good, if you do good and suffer for it, then what do you do?

[54:44] Rebel? No. You keep on submitting yourself, keep on entrusting yourself to God the Father who judges righteously.

[54:54] You've got a cruel boss, God will take care of him. If you're getting unfair treatment at the workplace, then let God take care of that. Because that's the example Jesus gave us.

[55:11] He suffered submissively. He suffered purposefully. Verse 24, Who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we having died to sins might live righteously or live for righteousness.

[55:29] And somehow our submission in the workplace, when we are treated poorly and we still submit respectfully, somehow God works his purpose in making a connection there with the gospel and the redemptive nature.

[55:54] In fact, that's how we ought to view our submission at work. as a part of our witness of the gospel. Jesus suffered brutally.

[56:07] He was nailed to a cross. Verse 24, and he suffered redemptively.

[56:19] And all of that is given to us and placed before us as an argument for our conduct at the workplace.

[56:34] And it makes our work ethic a validation of the gospel. Making our message of Christ believable.

[56:51] And allowing God to use it to bring others to himself. Thank you.