November 28th - Enemies to Heirs

Prayer Requests
Thanksgiving and safe travels
Brianna flying home
Shell - Church Stuff
Tyler's Social Security
High School Applications - Jennifer
Tyler's Awesome Half-Time Lesson
Christmas Party - December 3rd

Text - Zechariah 9

Our passage this morning is one of the most prophecy rich passages in all of scripture. It has near and far prophecies, as well as mid. There is a ton of history here, and names abound. The history of this chapter is quite interesting, but I want to focus on how it all points to Christ's ultimate purposes in coming to seek and save the lost, to exalt the humble and cast down the proud.

Chapters 7 and 8 can be summed up basically as contrasts, what would you call the religion of chapter 7? Worthless. And the religion of chapter 8? True. What is the difference between true and worthless religion? Worthless religion is doing things for God in order to make him be on your side, true religion honors God in action because it's the right thing to do. I think this quote sums up true religion better than any other quote, it's by Paris Reidhead:

"Lord Jesus, I’m going to obey you, and love you, and serve you, and do what you want me to do as long as I live, even if I go to Hell at the end of the road, simply because you are worthy to be loved, obeyed, and served; and I’m not trying to make a deal with you."

How does the Word of God interact with these two? How is the Word to people in worthless religion? It is a curse and is against them. How is the Word to people in true religion? It is a blessing and is called amazing things. For example, in the New Testament it's called the Word of God, the Word of Christ, the Word of Promise, the Word of Faith, Living and Active, and it is Holy, Good, and Righteous.

Today we're going to start out looking at the Word being a curse on a lot of people. Let's look at some that God is really angry with.

Zechariah 9:1-6 The burden of the word of the LORD is against the land of Hadrach and Damascus is its resting place. For the LORD has an eye on mankind and on all the tribes of Israel, and on Hamath also, which borders on it, Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise. Tyre has built herself a rampart and heaped up silver like dust, and fine gold like the mud of the streets. But behold, the Lord will strip her of her possessions and strike down her power on the sea, and she shall be devoured by fire. Ashkelon shall see it, and be afraid; Gaza too, and shall writhe in anguish; Ekron also, because its hopes are confounded. The king shall perish from Gaza; Ashkelon shall be uninhabited; a mixed people shall dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of Philistia.

So verse 1, God is against the land of Hadrach. We're not exactly sure where this is for several reasons, but based on the description of the cities we have a good idea of the size and scope of this country or alliance. It is basically Modern Day Lebanon. The capital is Damascus, and some of its major cities are Hamath, Tyre, and Sidon. These are amazingly wealthy cities on important trade routes. Tyre is super rich because they are the only natural port on this side of the Mediterranean. They have more money than they know what to do with, the richest part of the city is on an island just off the coast, and it has walls up to 150 feet tall in some places.

Because of the wealth and frequent travel through there it has attracted all sorts of people; rich people, smart people, greedy people, and all sorts of people great and small. Tyre at this point was an amazing city. Because of the amazing wealth and wisdom in this city the king elevated himself far beyond the position he rightly held, turn to Ezekiel 28 with me. In verses 1-10 we see the king as man:

Ezekiel 28:1-10 "Son of man, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord GOD: "Because your heart is proud, and you have said, 'I am a god, I sit in the seat of the gods, in the heart of the seas,' yet you are but a man, and no god, though you make your heart like the heart of a god— you are indeed wiser than Daniel; no secret is hidden from you; by your wisdom and your understanding you have made wealth for yourself, and have gathered gold and silver into your treasuries; by your great wisdom in your trade you have increased your wealth, and your heart has become proud in your wealth—therefore thus says the Lord GOD: Because you make your heart like the heart of a god, therefore, behold, I will bring foreigners upon you, the most ruthless of the nations; and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom and defile your splendor. They shall thrust you down into the pit, and you shall die the death of the slain in the heart of the seas. Will you still say, 'I am a god,' in the presence of those who kill you, though you are but a man, and no god, in the hands of those who slay you? You shall die the death of the uncircumcised by the hand of foreigners; for I have spoken, declares the Lord GOD."

And we're going to see in verse 11-19 that the true king of Tyre is none other than Satan himself.

Ezekiel 28:11-19 Moreover, the word of the LORD came to me: "Son of man, raise a lamentation over the king of Tyre, and say to him, Thus says the Lord GOD: "You were the signet of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God; every precious stone was your covering, sardius, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, emerald, and carbuncle; and crafted in gold were your settings and your engravings. On the day that you were created they were prepared. You were an anointed guardian cherub. I placed you; you were on the holy mountain of God; in the midst of the stones of fire you walked. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, till unrighteousness was found in you. In the abundance of your trade you were filled with violence in your midst, and you sinned; so I cast you as a profane thing from the mountain of God, and I destroyed you, O guardian cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire. Your heart was proud because of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom for the sake of your splendor. I cast you to the ground; I exposed you before kings, to feast their eyes on you. By the multitude of your iniquities, in the unrighteousness of your trade you profaned your sanctuaries; so I brought fire out from your midst; it consumed you, and I turned you to ashes on the earth in the sight of all who saw you. All who know you among the peoples are appalled at you; you have come to a dreadful end and shall be no more forever."

How the angel Satan interacted with the king of Tyre is hard to say, but either way God's anger is kindled against both.

In 332 BC Alexander the Great razed Tyre and cast her into the sea. The swiftness of Alexander astounded all, Daniel said he moved so quickly his horses' feet didn't touch the ground. All who saw this great bastion of worldliness destroyed were terrified and rightly so, for they were the next to be conquered by Alexander. All of this happened almost 200 years AFTER Zechariah was prophesying this.

Our first application is that God has created examples of his wrath to remind the world that setting our affections on things that perish, and especially considering people as gods and idols, is foolishness and only ends in destruction. It is not at all wrong to see God 's vengeance come on a city and hence forth tell the people to repent or they likewise will perish.

Amos 3:6 Is a trumpet blown in a city, and the people are not afraid? Does disaster come to a city, unless the LORD has done it?

This verse says that disaster does not come unless God has done it. But if people will turn, and look to God for salvation:

Zechariah 9:7-8 I will take away its blood from its mouth, and its abominations from between its teeth; it too shall be a remnant for our God; it shall be like a clan in Judah, and Ekron shall be like the Jebusites. Then I will encamp at my house as a guard, so that none shall march to and fro; no oppressor shall again march over them, for now I see with my own eyes.

Even though God is putting an end to many of his enemies, he is still saving some of them. They will be like the Jebusites, the people who were in Israel before the Israelites, who were assimilated into the covenant. When they are saved God will put away their idols. I love that God says he sees with his own eyes. This is a direct assault on the false gods whom don't see, don't hear, and don't speak.

Psalm 135:15-18 The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; they have eyes, but do not see; they have ears, but do not hear, nor is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them become like them, so do all who trust in them!

One of their greatest idols is their love of bloodshed, and in this verse we see that God will remove this idol from them. It's powerful when we consider it in light of Psalm 11:5,

Psalm 11:5 The LORD tests the righteous, but his soul hates the wicked and the one who loves violence.

Even those these enemies of God were totally hated by him, he chose to save some anyways. God has a salvation coming, let's read verse 9-13 as to how it is going to happen.

Zechariah 9:9-13 Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he, humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double. For I have bent Judah as my bow; I have made Ephraim its arrow. I will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and wield you like a warrior’s sword.

When Christ came, this prophecy was grossly misunderstood, they expected him to come into Jerusalem with flaming sword swinging it and totally taking over. Reading this I can see why they thought that, but I think they totally missed the humility part, that Christ was going to defeat evil in the most amazing of ways, by substituting himself for it so that he could be both the just and the justifier of his saints. This was a well known prophecy for the Messiah in the first century, everyone knew what it meant when Christ arrived on a colt.

Matthew 21:1-11 Now when they drew near to Jerusalem and came to Bethphage, to the Mount of Olives, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them, "Go into the village in front of you, and immediately you will find a donkey tied, and a colt with her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, you shall say, 'The Lord needs them,' and he will send them at once." This took place to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet, saying, "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Behold, your king is coming to you, humble, and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a beast of burden.'" The disciples went and did as Jesus had directed them. They brought the donkey and the colt and put on them their cloaks, and he sat on them. Most of the crowd spread their cloaks on the road, and others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. And the crowds that went before him and that followed him were shouting, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!" And when he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, saying, "Who is this?" And the crowds said, "This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth of Galilee." And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons.

This prophecy was amazing for Zechariah's time, saying that the Messiah would cut off the war horse from Jerusalem. Certainly the people would understand this to mean that there would be no more need of war horses after the Messiah came, but in the first century it would have had an even more personal meaning that Roman soldiers were stationed all throughout Jerusalem, than an alien government was oppressing the Jews.

Verse 11 is utterly amazing, it's my favorite, "because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit." Jesus quotes it in Matthew 26:27-28.

Matthew 26:27-28 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

The original hearers of this prophecy would have expected this coming King to offer a sacrifice instituting his new covenant. From chapter 6 they would have known the Messiah would be both priest and king and could offer a sacrifice to God. I don't know how many of them possibly could have expected that it would be himself he was offering as the perfect sacrifice. Certainly none who called for his crucifixion expected as much, since they crucified him for claiming to be God. His purposes were to set the captives free, those who were slaves to sin, which was all of us, loving ourselves more than anything, utterly wrecking the lives of many, failing to turn people towards everlasting life, and in this, God saved us anyways. We were his enemies, just like those in the beginning of the chapter, yet he saved a remnant out of his enemies.

Colossians 1:21-23 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Instead of slaves to sin, prisoners of the Devil (2 Timothy 2:26), now we are prisoners of hope, slaves of Christ. Verse 13 is beautiful too, because it reminds us that God is ultimately in control, using people as he so intends. Hebrews 4:12 speaks of God's Word as a sword, when you have it committed to memory or you read it and proclaim it to people, you are a sword in the hand of God. These Greeks and Hebrews would have been used for war, but beloved, we are peacemakers, declaring peace between God and man, a sword meant for peace.

Now in verse 14 we transfer to Christ's second coming. It is just a picture of the coming Armageddon that will be described much more fully in chapter 14.

Zechariah 9:14-17 Then the LORD will appear over them, and his arrow will go forth like lightning; the Lord GOD will sound the trumpet and will march forth in the whirlwinds of the south. The LORD of hosts will protect them, and they shall devour, and tread down the sling stones, and they shall drink and roar as if drunk with wine, and be full like a bowl, drenched like the corners of the altar. On that day the LORD their God will save them, as the flock of his people; for like the jewels of a crown they shall shine on his land. For how great is his goodness, and how great his beauty! Grain shall make the young men flourish, and new wine the young women.

This passage beautifully describes Christ's second coming, that he will appear in the sky like lightning, similarly to how he describes himself in Matthew 24, and that there will be a conquering army with him that are impervious to stones slung at them, who are able to step easily over missiles fired at them. The effect of this army is amazing, just like Christ is covered head to toe in the blood of his enemies in Isaiah 63, so will this army be drenched in their victory.

I love this verse 16, it is your major application, that your total purpose is to shine the light of Christ on the world and be a trophy of his grace.

In all of this we see that God has enemies, that he is more than capable of utterly destroying them, but that he also chooses to save some and sanctify them, that he did that by sending his Son the first time to have a humble entrance riding on a colt, that he poured out the blood of the covenant for the forgiveness of sins, that he rose on the third day, and he is coming back to judge the world and rescue his saints. He came on a colt the first time, as he comes back to conquer he will come on a white steed.

Revelation 19:11 Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war.

Be a light shining in the darkness, proclaim the excellencies of Christ, explain to people that they are either prisoners of sin, or prisoners of hope, that there is no other option, that they will face this Christ as either an enemy or as a reconciled friend. They must repent or perish.

January 17th - Gender Roles

Prayer Requests
Jordan – Boot Camp
Hawaii Missions Trip
Superbowl Missions Trip
New Middle School Friday Nights
Haiti, especially the Baptist Haiti Mission
Winterblast

Text – 1 Peter 3:1-7

The passage we’re going to look at today starts with likewise, so it is imperative that we remember what we’ve been talking about so that we understand what Peter is going to say now.

What’d we talk about last time? Slavery and the importance of respecting those in authority over you.

Who is our supreme example? Jesus Christ.

1 Peter 2:21 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.

Two things I wanted to focus on before we move onto the passage are the fact that Peter says Christ didn’t threaten, and a really good definition of biblical slavery which I found.

First, Peter says that when Christ was reviled, he didn’t revile in return, when he suffered, he didn’t threaten. But, we see Christ threatening in verses like

Luke 13:4-5 Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

And

John 8:23-24 He said to them, "You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. I told you that you would die in your sins, for unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins."

Both of these are threats, but this isn’t what Peter is talking about. Peter is talking specifically on the day that Christ was crucified, he didn’t threaten for the treatment he received. When he threatened in the days and years leading up to his crucifixion was for sins against Heaven. He didn’t say, “Unless you shut up, I’m going to punch you in the nose.” Rather it was more like, “You need to be forgiven or else you will reap the consequences of an insulted and holy God.” His threat wasn’t for their treatment against him, but for their sins against Heaven.

In Hawaii I was preaching on the beach and a very angry old woman came up and told me, “I’m a heathen and I [bleeping] love it.” I could have gotten mad at her for bothering me, but that would have been wrong, instead I pointed her sins at Heaven, that she could be sure her sins would find her out, and the fleeting nature of sin is not worth the eternity of wrath she would face lest she repent. She got even more mad and told me she didn’t need to repent, but that I needed to repent and then she ran off.

So this is what Peter means, that we don’t threaten for our treatment, but we are quick to warn of the threat of eternal damnation for those who continue to rebel against God and who don’t receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We see this in Christ’s prayer, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” This is a passive threat to them that they need forgiveness.

Next is the slavery issue, and I’m just going to read this so we can get onto the text for today, but this was too good for me to pass up. Dave gave me John MacArthur’s A Tale of Two Sons for Christmas, it is an absolutely wonderful book. Here is what Dr. MacArthur says about biblical slavery,

It was a truly amazing turnaround for the Prodigal Son to reach the point where he would even consider being a hired servant to his father, and it’s a very clear indicator that he now realized just how low he had sunk. The Greek word translated “hired servants” is misthios. It refers to day laborers-the lowest of all workers on the economic scale. In the first-century culture, that kind of hired servant held a much lower status that a slave. Slaves were supplied with living quarters, clothing, and all the necessities of life. Trusted bondservants might even be put in charge of important business affairs…Many household servants were educated, cultured, honorable, highly skilled people, whose status was anything but lowly. Nehemiah, serving as cupbearer to the king of Persia, is one biblical example of a slave who enjoyed honor and advantage.

You can also see evidence of the relative comfort some slaves enjoyed in the ruins of ancient Pompeii, a resort town consisting largely of homes that belonged to wealthy Roman citizens…The typical household servant’s living conditions were usually the most Spartan rooms in the estates…but all the servants’ needs were supplied, and they lived in relative comfort. In some cases, they even enjoyed many luxuries.

Day laborers, on the other hand, were society’s most desperately poor. Unlike slaves, they had no master continually caring for them. They were on their own, and they lived as best they could on whatever they could earn from day to day. Many of them were homeless and unskilled. They would therefore be given the menial or undesirable work. They were usually hired to do temporary manual labor…Such workers needed everything they could possibly earn just to scrape by from day to day, it was considered unjust to withhold their wages until a scheduled payday at the end of the week or even later in the month. As the Prodigals own experience demonstrated, not everyone paid menial workers enough to live on, and outside Israel, they might not get paid in a timely fashion.

But the Prodigal remembered that his father paid even the lowest of his hired servants more than enough. Day laborers who served his father actually had leftover food. That confirms what we have already observed about the father’s character. He was generous, kindly, and compassionate. (pp.91-92)

So all that to say, Peter’s point is that we are to respect the authority over us, no matter if they are good or bad. This is an important part of the likewise, because Peter is now going to talk to husbands and wives, and his first assumption is that the husband may not be a good husband.

I heard a young lady say recently that if a man-eating lion got loose in the United States, it would starve to death.

So while this passage is going to speak mostly to the ladies, there is a huge amount here to be learned for the men. We could spend two or three class periods on this, but we’re so far behind our schedule and since you’re all at least a few years from being married, I’m going to just teach what Peter says.

1 Peter 3:1-7 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct. Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious. For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening. Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

While researching for this, every single one of the resources I looked at coupled this passage with Ephesians 5, and rightly so, but we’re not going to go there, I want Peter to make his point without having to reference Paul. If this Epistle was the only letter the Pontian and Asian Christians had, then it must be sufficient, so we’re going to stay mostly in Peter’s Epistle. I’m sure this passage might even make some of us mad or uncomfortable, so that is why I am going to do my absolute best to stick to the text so if you get mad, it’s at the text and not at me.

v.1 Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands,

The first thing that we get from the context from the likewise, and then from the “be subject” is that Peter fully sees a hierarchy in the marriage covenant, that the man is the authority. Peter is using the same word here that he used in verse 13 about being subject to the government and verse 18 about being subject to a master.

According to the Bible, the husband owns the wife; but on the converse, so does the wife own her husband.

1 Corinthians 7:4 For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

It is so tempting to go to Ephesians 5 right now to explain why from a theological standpoint, but that isn’t Peter’s intent, read Ephesians 5:22-33 when you get home and you’ll see it from a totally different, yet totally viable perspective. Peter gives a different why in the second part of verse 1,

v.1-2 so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives, when they see your respectful and pure conduct.

Until I researched this, I was sure this passage only had to do with unbelieving husbands only, but it doesn’t. That is a part of this, but this is focused on so much more. Even believers are sure to be disobedient in some ways, sometimes willfully, sometimes ignorantly, and Peter is exhorting the wives here to live righteously to show their husbands the right path, instead of taking the authoritative position and telling them they are wrong, to live it out so that through their conduct they may be won to obedience in the Word of God.

The next part is probably the most important for your age group, so I’m going to keep moving even if it doesn’t feel like I’ve spent enough time on verses 1-2. If you feel the need to punch me in the stomach on the way out, then let’s keep talking about this after class.

v.3-4 Do not let your adorning be external—the braiding of hair and the putting on of gold jewelry, or the clothing you wear—but let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

While this is pointed by Peter at women, guys, let’s pay extra special attention because this is what you should be looking for in female friends and future wives.

The external standard of beauty is always changing, so I want to put together a hyperbole of the ideal woman. Let’s say the standard of beauty becomes that the ideal external standard is a woman 7 foot 6 inches tall; it doesn’t matter if she is skinny or overweight, blonde or brunette, ears pierced or not, has perfect eyesight or wears glasses, is dressed in a $5,000 dress or in rags, if she is 7 feet 6 inches tall without stilts or crazy hats, she is the ideal of beauty and everyone who is shorter or taller is not considered beautiful by the culture. What can someone who is 5 foot 5 inches do in this culture to be considered externally beautiful? Nothing.

Now say we had someone that fits the requirements, and assuming the standard doesn’t change, is this beauty imperishable? No, with the ravages of sin she may get osteoporosis and her bones shrink and all of the sudden she is only 7’5, or she starts to hunch over from old age, no longer beautiful, or she breaks her leg and when she limps she goes from 7’6 to 7’5 to 7’6 to 7’5. External beautify is fleeting.

But in the hidden person of the heart, Peter says this is an imperishable beauty, and very precious in the sight of God. A gentle and quiet spirit, a godly character, respectful and pure conduct; these are everlasting. Can every Christian woman achieve this? Yes.

1 Timothy 4:7-8 Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.

Guys, pay attention, if what is important to God is the heart, then what ought to be important to you is the heart. If you marry a girl just because she’s the most beautiful girl on earth on the outside, you’re in danger of the effects of sin making you think someone else is more beautiful or judging your wife against her former beauty. My friend Melissa had the most beautiful smile and then she bit down on a carrot stick wrong and shattered her front tooth, but her beauty wasn’t only external; her godliness wasn’t affected by her missing tooth because her internal beauty is imperishable.

And what does it matter if the whole world thinks you’re beautiful and God doesn’t? It astonishes me with women like Helen of Troy, of whose beauty nations went to war against one another and who it is said “had a face the launched a thousand ships”, and who really only the king of the winning nation could have, had such impact with their beauty. And yet is Helen of Troy beautiful today? Has anybody gone to war for her recently? No, she is 3,200 years old. To the contrary, check out what Peter says about women with inner beauty,

v.5-6 For this is how the holy women who hoped in God used to adorn themselves, by submitting to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. And you are her children, if you do good and do not fear anything that is frightening.

Various places tell us that Abraham is in Heaven, and in just a second we’re going to see that Sarah is too, and is her godliness still beautiful today? Definitely, and even moreso because unlike external beauty which fades, internal beauty grows in sanctification until it is perfected in Heaven.

In Galatians 4 it refers to Sarah as the allegory of freedom and Hagar the allegory of slavery, and so Peter is making the point that when you submit yourself to the authority first of your husband and second and more importantly under Christ (as the progression has been moving from chapter 2:13) then in your submission you become free.

Genesis refers to Sarah still being beautiful in her old age, and while it certainly bears the idea of her external beauty, I wonder if much of the reason that Pharaoh desired her so much was from her inward beauty, something he couldn’t find anywhere in the women of Egypt.

She is the perfect model of a holy life, not like the models of today who model nothing more than the fact that the world is totally focused on the outside of a person, that sex and materialism are sources of happiness, and that women are objects rather than people.

So Sarah is the one to be followed. The way you know you are her spiritual children is if you do good out of love for God and in submission to him first, not out of fear, and not backing down in matters of purity. Peter says all of this before mentioning the husband’s duties, and I think the reason is because he is really trying to press home the importance of submission, placing Christ’s submission in the middle as the perfect example.

While men and woman are definitely equal in worth and character and intelligence, our roles are not equal, men have different abilities and duties, and so do women. Mary Daly just recently died, she claimed to be a Christian and claimed the Bible made women out to be inferior and therefore fought to make women equal to men. Feminism tries to make women do the duties of men and men do the duties of women, and one of Peter’s main points is that we ought to stay in our gender roles. This is true feminism, truly recognizing the beauty of the husband/wife roles. Science has backed this up by finding that the happiest and most fulfilled women are those that devote themselves to their families, and the unhappiest and least fulfilled are those that operate in male gender roles. Likewise, the unhappiest and least fulfilled men are those whose wives run the house.

Now, the path to happiness is not simply through submission, albeit this will certainly lead to eternal happiness, but the way this is supposed to work is that both husband and wife fulfill their roles in the way which God commands and desires. For example, the word Islam literally means submission, but it is submission to a made-up god who can’t give anything in return. Their submission does not lead to salvation, but our promise is that if we submit ourselves to God, he will lift us up. So the wife’s submission should be coupled with the husband’s role. And here is the man’s role,

v.7 Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Living in an “understanding way” is hugely important; it is recognizing that there are differences between men and women and that reactions and methods to doing things may be considerably different. And there is the huge implication in this passage that even when there are disagreements, they must be worked through. A wife with a disobedient husband stays with him, a husband must show grace and love his wife’s internal beauty no matter what happens to the external.

The husband must show honor to his wife within her gender, not expecting her to step out of that role and act as a man. Does this mean she is lesser in worth or in the eyes of God? No, as this verse says, she is an heir to grace leading to eternal life.

Christianity is constantly called misogynistic, or containing a general hatred toward women. In reality I think it is really the most woman-glorifying religion, it doesn’t look at girls and say, “You’re pretty good, now be better by not acting like girls.” Rather it says you’re perfect in your composition and abilities; you are created by a loving Creator who knows what he is doing, and desires your utmost ability within the role in which you fulfill, and has promised you an inheritance in his Son which is neither above nor below the male role.

When Christianity got ultra-liberal in London in the 1800’s, there were debates on whether women even had souls; when what those debaters should have done is simply read their Bible and seen in this verse that women are heirs to grace.

We’re going to skip the “so that your prayers may not be hindered” for now, it is Peter’s transition to the next passage and we’ll look at it next week.

So in conclusion, Peter has given us three purposes of submission, first to the government, then to our employers (which for you encompasses your teachers), and finally within gender roles. He starts wide and impersonal then narrows it to the most personal. Christ being our perfect example in all three. Next week we will look at the purpose of this submission.

The conclusion for our study today, ladies, don’t get all caught up in external beauty, focus on your inward beauty through a quiet, gentle, and pure heart, which is what is truly beautiful and precious, both in godly men’s sight, but mostly in God’s sight. Guys, know that the external is perishable, but the internal is imperishable. Your future bride must be chosen for her godliness and not just ‘cuz she’s pretty.

I have two homework assignments for you, both sure to be of use for you for all of eternity.

First, I want you to memorize 1 Peter 3:4, [Ladies] let your adorning be the hidden person of the heart with the imperishable beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which in God’s sight is very precious.

Ladies, memorize it as the person you want to be; guys memorize it as the person you want to marry.

Second, help your mom do something nice for your dad. Then help your dad do something nice for your mom. Do it because a strong marriage bond glorifies your Saviour by modeling his relationship with his bride, the church.

January 3rd - Christ our Example

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Text – 1 Peter 2:18-25

It's been quite a long time since we've been in Peter's Epistle, so let's do some review.

Who wrote it? Peter.

Who was Peter? One of the 12 Apostles, a street preacher mainly to the Jews. He was married, and according to John's Gospel, he was slower than John.

Who did he write it to? Pretty much everybody, both Jews and Gentiles, both rich and poor; namely people in every part of modern day Turkey.

When was it written and where? Probably about AD 65 in Rome.

What is the main theme of this Epistle? We are ambassadors/pilgrims to earth, Heaven is our real home. So we need to act as representatives of Christ, remembering that here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city to come.

What else did Peter write or help write? Second Peter, and he provided input for both Mark's Gospel and Luke's Acts of the Apostles, and I believe that he also helped to write Hebrews.

So that gives us context for our lesson today, Peter has been telling us how to live as ambassadors, not fighting against the government or doing all sorts of evil stuff, but honoring people, loving the church, and serving God. Those were all some very universal general commands to everyone, now Peter is going to show that we have an example in Christ of how to act, and give us some specifics on how to act.

1 Peter 2:18-25 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. 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. 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. 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 Overseer of your souls.

v.18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.

The first thing we see in this passage is that the Bible is not against slavery. There are very specific rules in the Bible on how you're supposed to treat slaves and how slaves are supposed to act. One example is that the Bible tells masters that they are required to give their slaves the Sabbath off of work.

Deuteronomy 5:13-14 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter or your male servant or your female servant, or your ox or your donkey or any of your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates, that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.

We've been so brainwashed in the world today that slavery is bad that we totally overlook the fact that most people are slaves. Gone is the day where there was an actual deed of ownership written for our person, but we are still in bondage. We now just have a little more freedom to determine who we will work for. Where-as when we think slavery we think of a plantation owner who has people work for him and in turn gives them room and board (a place to sleep and something to eat), now the employer has people work for him and provides them money in order that they have room and board. Some slave/master relationships are more distant, like when you take out a loan, you sell yourself to the bank in promise of working for them to pay back the loan with interest.

Proverbs 22:7 The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

William Wilberforce was the Christian in Parliament who in the early-1800's abolished ethnic slavery in England, and then Abraham Lincoln was the Christian in Washington who in the mide-1800's abolished ethnic slavery in America. Some people try to say that they are responsible for doing away with slavery, but really their great achievement is recognizing that all men are created equal. Slavery is still alive and well all over the world, especially in the United States.

1 Corinthians 7:20-24 Each one should remain in the condition in which he was called. Were you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men. So, brothers, in whatever condition each was called, there let him remain with God.

The spiritual implications of this is that people are either slaves to sin or slaves to Christ, we are not our own , we were bought with a price. We could spend hours on this topic, but that isn't Peter's intent, I just wanted to point out this important detail of the biblical worldview versus the secular worldview. Finally, last point on this topic, in George Orwell's book Animal Farm he tries to show that Socialism, though it promises freedom to all people, really enslaves everyone; the great irony of the book is that at the end, the animals that declare their freedom the loudest are the most in bondage. You will see this all throughout the United States today, people claiming we're free and that this is the greatest nation on earth, when in reality they are firmly in bondage to materialism and sin.

So then, Peter's point when he tells us to be in subjection to both good masters and bad masters implies that slavery is real and that everyone is in it. Read this as your future boss, not as some archaic thought of a slave driver with a whip. But why do we do that? Verses 19 and 20 are going to tell us why a little more.

v.19-20 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.

This allows us to represent God, that as sent not only will we realize when we've done wrong and accept the consequences, but we will endure when persecuted for doing right. This is one thing that Christians could definitely be better at, you could rephrase this to say, "No whining, I don't care whose fault it is." Do you ever watch those judge shows on TV? Everybody is out to prove that they are right even when they are clearly wrong. My favorite example was a cop show where they had people try to fight their speeding tickets and they came up with every excuse imaginable so they wouldn't have to say they were wrong. "It was on a hill." "I didn't see the speed limit sign." "I was keeping up with traffic." and many many more. We need to admit when we've done wrong and accept the consequences.

But much more difficult is being punished for doing the right thing. If we didn't have such an incredible example, I don't think I could do this, nor try to tell you to either, but we do have an example.

v.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.

The reason is to represent Christ, who suffered unjustly at the hands of men for our sake. When you are persecuted for righteousness sake, it shows that the grace of God overcomes and that God's word is true, that people love darkness rather than the light. Who do you think was the most Christlike person ever to live? Jesus Christ. What happened to him when he lived that life? He got crucified. I like to ask, "How Christlike can you be if no-one has tried to crucify you?"

Leonard Ravenhill really has a great quote on this, "And there's no room for Him in the inn. He got a bit older, there was no room in His family, His family turned on Him. He went to the temple, no room in the temple, the temple turned on Him. And when He died there was no room to bury Him, He died outside of the city. Well why in God's Name do you expect to be accepted everywhere? How is it that the world couldn't get on with the holiest Man that ever lived and can get on with you and me? Are we compromised? Have we no spiritual stature? Have we no righteousness that reflects on their corruption?"

Not only might persecution for doing right happen to us, but Peter says that we've been called to this, it is part of our duty as ambassadors for Christ. Sometimes we may suffer for doing wrong, but in Christ's example, he only suffered for doing right. Verse 22 is one of my favorites in the whole Bible.

v.22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

The reason it is so great is because it almost requires us to say of every verse, "This is my favorite verse." Because everything Jesus ever said was totally true. Peter is going to give some specifics on Christ never sinning.

v.23 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.

Revile means to speak abusively, when they yelled at Christ "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Messiah of God, the Chosen One!" and "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" He didn't yell back, instead he prayed for them, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

Both thieves crucified with Christ were yelling at him to save himself and them, really making fun of him, but then one of them repented; Jesus chose to save him instead of saying, "You want me to save you? Ten minutes ago you blasphemed my name, save yourself."

He didn't threaten. This is something that some of the people I preach with need to learn. Some of them get downright snarky telling people to "turn or burn," and really just making some unrealistic threats. We do implore and warn, but not in a threatening way. For example, Jesus said unless you repent, you shall likewise perish to some people who asked about some people who died, but there was the invitation to salvation not just a threat. And if you think about it, Jesus Christ could have called angels from Heaven to save him from the cross, or he could have had lightning bolts zap everybody, but he entrusted it all to his Father, as the one who judges justly. We ought to do likewise.

v.24 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.

There are several arguments on exactly what Christ was doing on the cross, was he just an example, or a payment to the Devil, or the perfect lamb for sacrifice; none of which is correct; but this verse really puts it well that he was a substitutionary atonement, we should have suffered for our sins, but he died for us. He bore our sins in his body, elsewhere the Bible says he became sin for us; he took our sins and died for them. This is called penal substitutionary atonement, penal being punishment, substitute meaning that he took our place, and atonement meaning how we are reconciled to God.

That is what he did, so the purpose is that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. Keeping the context, since Christ died for us, we ought to live for him, and that is why we act as his representatives on earth.

By his wounds we are healed, not physically in this life, but spiritually and physically in eternity. If we have died to sin and live to righteousness, the idea is that sin is a disease which was going to kill our souls, but which Christ has rescued us from. The Apostle Paul always had a physical ailment, as well as many other godly Christians throughout history, this verse doesn't mean that we are going to healed physically. This verse gets misquoted all the time to say that God will heal you if you have enough faith, if you don't get healed, there must be something wrong with your faith.

We're going to talk about this a lot more in Second Peter, but for now, Oral Roberts was one of these antichrists who preached what is called the "health-wealth-and-prosperity gospel", and he just died of pneumonia in December. The antithesis of their idea that a Christian should never get sick because by Christ's stripes we are healed is when they die. To a lesser extent, but a much more dangerous person, is Jesse Duplantis who has to wear reading glasses. Kenneth Hagin claims to have never had so much as a head-ache because of this verse. I don't know if he's lying about his health, but he's definitely lying about God.

Finally, Peter is going to tie the main thought of this passage together in verse 25. He has been talking about us being subject to everyone with all respect, that we are following Christ's example, and because he died for us, we ought to live to him, verse 25 reminds us who our true owner is.

v.25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Our true Master and Guide and person to be respected is Jesus Christ, and following in his example will bring honor to him, even if it doesn't seem right from a human standpoint. Remember in the beginning of the passage that Peter qualifies the statement, "mindful of God," the reason we do everything we do is for him. It is very important to remember that we aren't good for goodness sake, we're good for Christ's sake, so that he gets the glory, because he's the one that did all of the work to bring us back to him.

Now, something that Peter is starting to prepare, but wont' get to for a few more chapters, is calling Christ both the Shepherd, Poimen, and Overseerer, Episkopos, he is saying that Christ is both in charge of the little things and the big things. Usually a Poimen, or Pastor, won't also be an Episkopos, or Bishop. But Christ is, because he is capable of both running the universe and being an individual friend.

This is a really cool point I think, John MacArthur was on a plane once and he was witnessing to a Muslim, and the Muslim said, "I hope God will forgive my sins." John MacArthur answered, "Well I know him personally and he won't." The Muslim was astonished that anyone could know the Creator of the universe.

There are three titles given for pastor in the New Testament:

Poimen - Pastor
Presbyter - Elder
Episkopos - Overseer

A presbyter can be a poimen but usually they oversee pastors instead of acting as one, while an episkopos oversees presbyters. Some people like to think that churches can only be small, like house sized, but God anticipated and prepared for megachurches and the oversight that is necessary. It is interesting to note that the Roman Catholic Church claims Peter to be the first bishop of Rome, or Pope, but Peter is very careful to say that Jesus is the Bishop of our souls, and in chapter 5 he is very careful to only call himself a presbyter.

In the Southern Baptist Convention we are so afraid of the language of bishop and presbyter that we very very rarely use them and instead Pastor Aaron holds the title of Senior Pastor, which would be in our form of church government the equivalent of a presbyter, or even the bishop of Summit, or you could say that the Convention would be in the bishop role, albeit they don't function the way that a bishop should function, so it's probably safer to say Pastor Aaron falls into the episkopos role, while Dave and Leon and Lee would be in the presbyter role, and individual teachers would be in the poimen role.

If this doesn't make sense it's not that big of a deal, the Bible doesn't give a definitive church "how-to manual", albeit it does call elders to train up the younger, and that is what Peter is going to talk about considerably more in chapter 5. In the Methodist and Episcopal/Anglican churches you'll have bishops that are the head of a region of churches, I don't think that is what the Bible had in mind, I think God would rather we do it similar to how Summit does it, albeit I think God would rather all of the churches in the area be under a head overseer so that there is more communication and communion between churches. Unfortunately in this day and age, I don't ever foresee anything like that happening.

So in conclusion, when we suffer, keeping God in mind, under a good or bad boss or leader, we bear it, remembering Christ's example; since he died for us, we will live for him, we will seek to do good in all we do for his name's sake, dying to sin and living for righteousness, because we like sheep had gone astray, but our pastor and owner has brought us back.