1 Peter - 2022

Please take a seat. And if you'd like to grab a Bible, and turn to 1 Peter chapter 2, and we'll be reading from verse 11 to 25. If you haven't got a Bible, it will be up on the screen. But great if you do have 1.

So 1 piece of chapter 2. Starting at verse 11, reading to 25. Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every human authority, whether to the emperor, as a supreme authority, or to governors who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong, and to commend those who do right.

For it is God's will that by doing good, you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people. Lear as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil. Livers God's slaves. Show proper respect to everyone. Love the family of believers.

Fear God, honor the emperor. Slaves, in reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. For it is commendable, if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering, because they are conscious of God. But how is it your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, This is commendable before God.

To this, you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they held their insults at him, he did not retaliate when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness, by his wounds you have been healed, for you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Oh, good morning.

My name is Pete Woodcock. I'm 1 of the pastors of the church, great to see you, if you're visiting, really good to have you with us. If you're online for the first time, great to have you with us. Just a couple of things I want to emphasize is, 1 is the men's breakfast. We we've invited someone to come, but they haven't replied yet.

So I'm not sure if they're coming. Now, if they don't come, I've got someone else coming And I I'm really looking forward to because this person so we hope the first 1 doesn't come, actually. Because this second person has more influence on on me than any other person I think. I've read more of his stuff than than any other person I've read. I'm so looking forward to him coming.

He's a massive influence and but I can't save in case in case the other bloke comes. Okay? But that will be good. That was confusing, wasn't it? But it's worth coming anyway.

Nice sausage. And then just the reading group. If you've never been part of a reading group, it's it's really good thing. You you basically read you know, a few chapters and then you discuss. If you haven't read it all or you're a bit confused, then that's okay.

And So Craig is gonna do that and he's really excited by that. Be really he would really like to know who's potentially coming. So it's a really good, clear book on the trinity, and we really need to understand this stuff. So I want to encourage you to come Craig will be standing at the visitors desk. Chris isn't around.

He's got COVID and so Craig is Chris and Chris is Craig and he will tell you what to do. Is that right? Yeah. Yeah. Just down there.

That's Craig. Look at look at him. He's just come back from holiday. Yeah. So he's chuffed.

So so great. Let me pray. Father, help us now as we look at this passage, please bless us, encourage us, challenge us, help us to understand what you're saying, and by your spirit, help us to put it into practice, we pray. In Jesus' name, r m. So my big question is, if you if you wanna turn back to 1 peter 2, my big question this morning is how how do we as Christians live in a world that's increasingly hostile to us?

As Christians, and hostile to our message. How how how do we live in that world? A world that sees actually our message the gospel, which means good news of the Lord Jesus Christ, as an enemy message as an enemy message to freedom. How do we live in a world when our actual message that we love so much, and we think is good news is seen as really bad news, particularly in the area of freedom. A world where Christians are increasingly seen as the bad guys.

Now, that's not everywhere in the UK, but it's increasingly happening and in lots of places that is happening, particularly in education places. Well, look at verse 16 of 1 Peter 2. It's an amazing sentence. Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil, live as God's slaves. Now, it's an amazing sentence because he says, here's Peter.

He's saying, live as free people. Right? And he's he's that sentence is in the middle of of like a sandwich. On 1 side, he's just said Peter, and sorry. He's just said to all of the people he's writing to, you need to submit So do you get that?

Live us free people, but you need to submit to the kings and authorities and the governors. And then on the other side of that sentence, live as 3 people. He says, you need to slaves. I'm writing to you slaves you need to submit to your masters, Even if they treat you harshly, even if they beat you. So it's like really weird.

Livers free people, but submit to these authorities. Now remember who these authorities are when Peter's writing, it's nero Neero was an insane dictator, and lots of his cruelty, and he was an extremely cruel man, went in violent ways to Christians. All kinds of things, from what I know come and ask me afterwards. He was a violent man to Christians. And not only that, most of the Christians that Peter's writing to would have almost definitely been slaves.

There were 60000000 slaves at the time in the Roman Empire, And so these Christians nearly almost definitely would have been slaves. So he's saying, live as free people but submit just nero. Livers free people but submit to your slave masters even if they beat you and treat you harshly. I mean, it's weird, isn't it? Live as free people.

Now what does he mean? What does he mean by freedom? And that's my first point. Freedom. I want us to think about freedom.

Being free, freedom I mean, few words or concepts attract so much attention. We're really into it. It's a weighty word. Freedom carries weight with it. It's a very common theme even if the word freedom isn't used, but freedom is a big issue.

If you wanna punish someone, you deny their freedom, you take away their freedom, you counsel them, You say you can't come on this platform. We deny your freedom. If someone wants to sell you something, they promise it's gonna make you free. They may not use those words, but they did. I mean, look at all the new car adverts for electric cars.

I mean, they never break down. We're always whizzing around. You hardly have charge him up. You can have lights flashing all over the place. It'll make you a freer person.

I doubt that very much. I I guess soon. There'll be lots of breakdowns and batteries run out, and we'll see it. But nevertheless, there we go. We promise freedom.

So people celebrate their free their country's independence with songs of freedom on their lips. Ringing in their ears, politicians, business people, advertisers, salesmen, military leaders, military recruiters, They all know that the use of the word freedom will draw our attention, will bring our interest. A lot if I I was just thinking about a lot of songs in my youth, a lot of rock songs I listened to had the theme of freedom. Free to do whatever I like, whenever I like, with whoever I like. No 1 telling us what to do and when to do it.

Remember that song? Or 1 of my favorites was in the summer, Alice Cooper, Schools out. Do you remember that? Schools out for summer. Schools been blown to pieces.

No more teachers. Or Pink Floyd. We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control. No docs or chasm in the classroom.

Teachers leave those kids alone. Brilliant. Or going way back the who. Fantastic. As Roger Daltry sang as loud as he as he could.

I'm free and freedom, tastes of reality. I was there in the front row singing that. Yeah? So we think of freedom as being the captain of our own souls. That's what all of those songs are about.

And the last thing freedom is is to be captain by someone else, particularly nero and particularly a harsh master that's gonna beat me. So what's Peter on about? Freedom is, in fact, a big theme in the bible. 1 of the big themes if you go right the way through the bible. But it works itself out very differently than we might imagine.

Jesus said, the truth will set you free. Paul said, it is for freedom that Christ has set us free and Peter writes here live as free people. But the bible's meaning of freedom is this. You are free to do what you ought to do, not what you want to do. It's very different, isn't it?

Freedom is is is not to do with a lack of constraint in the bible, but about being what we're meant to be. Freedom is not freewheeling downhill on your bicycle, but freedom is the ability to apply the brakes. True freedom is not moving away from God as our master, but living for God. The closer we conform to the true image of God, which is the Lord Jesus Christ, the freer we actually become. The further we drift away from the Lord Jesus Christ, our freedom shrinks.

According to the bible, real freedom in the bible is found in obedience and in servanthood. Jesus said this to his disciples. Those who want to save their life, you know, life is obviously the big freedom, isn't it? Those who want to save their life will lose it and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be a slave.

That's freedom. It's very different from the freedom that's spoken about in our culture. We're bombarded from childhood with the message that freedom means self assertion, insisting on my rights, throwing off constraints living without the brakes on creating myself. The highest truth in our contemporary society is to be true to yourself. That's freedom.

So back to this amazing verse. Look at it. 1 Peter chapter 2 verse 16, live us 3 people. But do not use your freedom as a cover up for evil, live as God's slaves. It's weird, isn't it?

Either end of that verse. To live as free people, is to live as God's slaves. That's a definition of freedom. To live the way your creator wants you to live. That's freedom.

And to use your freedom Not for what you like and desire, but for what God likes and desires. That's freedom. So that's my first point freedom. Now let's lit little moving a little bit more into the text into these these verses. My second point is freedom worked out See how people works this freedom out.

How freedom in crisis works out with these people in the first century. Look at verse 18. Are you ready for this? Slaves in reverent fear he's talking to slaves. I mean, just what?

Freedom, slaves. Slaves in slaves, get your freedom. Fight for freedom. Stand up for Christ's rights, become a mighty army. Slaves, in reverent fear of God, submit yourselves to your masters.

Not only to those who are good and considerate, but to the those who are harsh. And later on might beat you. There's a freedom behind this verse. There's a master in the verse that's actually bigger than the slave master. That's what he's trying to get us to think through.

There's a big plan of freedom. And it's all in the plan and purposes of God that are found for you in verses 11 and 12. Go back to 11 and 12. Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that though you though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.

Now, Peter's saying here, he's talking about pagans. He's talking about non Christian pagans glorifying God. Now how can that happen? Peter is saying that God has called us or them to live in such a way that the pagans, those who worship other gods, those who are hostile to Christianity, that the pagans will notice, and therefore, they will turn to God and bring glory to him. That is what God wants you to use your freedom for.

This is the argument. To be in this world, and around the lives of aggressive, resistant people who do not know God But by all means, even your suffering, you might live in a way that brings them to Jesus Christ and brings glory to God. To get their attention, to turn them to the lord Jesus Christ. Use your freedom to submit to earthly authorities, even a hero, use your freedom to submit to masters, even harsh ones, In order that you'll get the attention of these harsh people and you may turn them to God. That sort of behavior and that use of freedom is what God loves.

Look at verse 20, the second half of verse 20. But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable to God. Now the word commendable is a it's it's sort of a bit of a slightly dull word really. It actually is just the word Carys. It just means grace.

This is grace before God. And it carries with it the whole sort of idea that there's this sort of circle of grace you're living amongst people who don't deserve you to live like this and that in itself is only powered by God but it sort of comes back to God and he's excited by this grace and there's this circle of thanksgiving and gracefulness and and and God is really happy in other words. It's this like circle of joy going on here. He thankful, he's delighted. And the word submit that's used is I place myself under deliberately.

It's not a cowering submission like a, you know, a dog that's beaten and it just cowers. And it it's a weak thing. To submit is to put all my power, all my strength all my freedom under an authority. Submission isn't weakness, it's strength. So look at verses 11 and 12 again.

I hope it will all fit in together in a minute. Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and aliens to stain from sinful desires which war against the soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, They may see your good deeds and glory if I got on the day he visits us. How do we live in a hostile world? How do we live in a world that accuses us of doing wrong even though we've done nothing wrong?

How do we live in a world that sees us as the bad guys? How do we live in a world where people on fairly accuse us. Well, we live in such a way, says Peter, that our good deeds will glorify God, and that means that we battle with our sinful nature, and we battle with the desires within us. So that we can patiently endure and we can submit. That is in fact our calling.

Look at verse 21, So I say, I hope all little fit in just a minute in the next point. Where's 21? So this you were called because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in his footsteps. In other words, our calling is to follow Jesus. Jesus suffered we suffer.

This is our mission. Our mission is to follow Jesus who went into suffering unjustly in order to bring good to the pagan. The will of the father was for Jesus was that Jesus would suffer on the cross and by suffering, he'd bring salvation. That's the will of the father. The will of the father for me is to use my freedom to submit to god's ways The will of the father is that I might walk in Christ's footsteps and do it in a way that would submit and even suffer to get the pagans' attention.

Just like Jesus suffered for salvation, I suffer for salvation. That's what he's saying. The big thing I want you to use your freedom for is for the glory of God in the salvation of the Pagan. Now that leads me to my third point and hopefully it all sticks together. Our example of freedom.

This is our example of freedom versus 22 to 25. Let me read it. It's all about Jesus. He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth. When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate.

When he suffered, he did not he made no threat. Indeed, he entrusted himself to him who judge judge is justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. By his wounds, we've been healed. For you were like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the shepherd.

The overseer of your souls. Now, here's the example and the very definition of Christian freedom. Notice what Jesus did not do. Verse 22. He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth.

Truth is usually the first casualty in any conflict. Isn't it? We become experts at spin when we're in conflict with someone when someone's accusing us of something. We're experts at presenting our side of things. I am anyway, aren't you?

I'm brilliant at that. Yeah? Truth comes as the first casualty of conflict, but not with Jesus. He spoke the truth even when it was costly. There was no deceit on his mouth.

Notice he didn't retaliate verse 23. When they hurled insults at him, he did not retaliate. Revenge and retaliation is so utterly human, isn't it? I'll get my own back. Someone crosses me or my master or boss does something wrong to me, I'll get my own back.

They'll pay somehow, but Jesus didn't do that. He had a hundred thousand or 10000 or whatever it is, angels at his disposal. And he could have said come, and they would have come when he was on the cross, and that would have been the end of he didn't retaliate. No threats. Look.

When he suffered he made no threats, I mean, often if I can't get straight back at you, if you've offended me or you're doing me on harm or there's an injustice against me, If I can't get back, I promise future things, don't I? I'll get you in the end. Yeah? I heard of someone that was wanted to get their own back and they were dying and they said, I'm gonna come back and haunt you. Yeah.

You know, even though I die, I'll come back. That wind. That Russell. That's me. Creeping up on you at night.

You know? We we sort of we have a future judgment. We make a threat. No threats from Jesus. Notice that's what he didn't do, but notice what he did do instead he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

Jesus didn't say that injustice doesn't matter, but he did say it can wait. It can wait. I mean, that is an extraordinary thing just by the side, by the way. Jesus You know, the the second person of the trinity come to the book club and find out about that. Jesus is more into justice than any of us could be.

Yeah? I mean, to hold his nature back which is justice, The hold is nature backed and say, no. No. No. No.

I'll leave that for the father later and get on with what I'm supposed to be getting on with. It's just extraordinary, isn't it? He says there's a later justice to come and I can leave the injustice that's going on, the unfairness, the way people are treating me, I can leave it for the moment. And Jesus used his freedom to make that different choice on justice. Look at verse 24.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross so that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By his wounds, we have been healed. Jesus makes these choices to bring people to God. By his wounds, those that are opposing him might be healed. So I hope you're with me here.

This is so big stuff that Peter's going on about. He didn't ask how can I get even? He didn't ask that. He didn't he he didn't ask how can I get my own back? How can I retaliate?

He didn't speak back violently. He said, how can I act in the salvation of the people that are acting so violently against me? For you, look, were like sheep going astray, verse 25. But now you have returned to shepherd than the overseer of your souls. That's what he's about.

He's about bringing sheep into the fold. Jesus is the most free person in the universe. But he used his freedom to submit to the father's will to bring salvation to those that hated him. And that is our example. Don't worry about that.

That is our example. Our mission in this world is to live in such a way that people who are deeply hostile to Jesus will turn to him and bring glory. If we go about using deception, Jesus didn't, retaliation, Jesus didn't, or threats Jesus didn't, or wanting justice immediately Jesus didn't, we won't bring people to bring glory to to Jesus, to God. So Peter is saying, Christian, use your freedom to follow him. Use your freedom verse 11, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul, the natural sinful desires When an injustice happens to you, when you're treated unfairly, when you are hurt by someone, the ugly head of sinful desires rise up and say, speak back, insult back.

If you insult me, I am so quick Some of us have a quick mind and are able to speak quickly and think things quickly and it's a bit of a curse sometimes. If you insult me, it's very quick. Like a very quick I'm I'm like an amazing Wimbledon tennis player. I can whip back back. You might think it's an ace.

No way. First return. Right back in the corner. Don't do that, abstain from that. We're so quick to defend ourselves.

We are in a fight back generation. Someone wrote this. We know our lawyers phone number better than we know verses of scripture about self restraint. We're quick to get man, quick to fight back, quick to demand the lord to work, quick to cancel, quick to tweet, Don't you dare cross that line? I've got my rights.

What do we want? And when do we want it? Now, I don't just get mad. I get even. I heard a I heard a story this week, which I really liked, and it was an opportunity to shove it in here.

Lighten it up a little bit. There's a bloke bitten I doubt if it's true, but I I hope it is. He's bitten by a dog that's got rabies. He goes to the doctor and the doctor said, yeah, it's got rabies and you've got rabies. So the bloke gets a pad out and a pen out and he starts writing and the doctor thinks he's writing his will and says, no.

No. No. No. You want you know, there's cures for rabies now. You you you won't die of it.

You don't have to write a will. He says, I'm not writing a will. I'm writing a list of people I wanna bite. And, you know, I don't just get mad, I get even. Paul says, in Romans chapter 12, do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath for it is written it is mine to revenge.

I will repay, says the Lord. That's what Jesus did. Peter is saying, exercise that freedom to make a different choice to your natural inclination obstain from those sinful desires of the fallen heart. You're born again. You've got a new life.

Livers those who are free. And freedom means you have the ability to make a choice now. Freedom means you have ability to to say no to your sinful nature of getting your own back or fighting for yourself or claiming you want justice right now, you're so free you have a choice now to go the Jesus way. To not retaliate, to deal with people who are style to you in such a way that it might get their attention and they may then submit to Jesus and bring glory to him. So back to the question, how do you live in a hostile world?

The answer is that you live in a way that hostile style people to Jesus have no excuse to blame you for anything. They might, but they have no excuse. If your life is 1 of self defense, retaliation, demand for just this, then you're the same as everybody else who isn't born again and isn't a follower of Jesus. That's his big point. I hope you got that.

I've said it sort of lots of times. It's a tough stuff this. Let me just go on to my fourth point then and we try and work it out a little bit. Won't take too long. In all of this, you've got to get the great big theme.

The heart attitude, the motives, the priority. And they keep saying it, that is to live in such a way that you will submit even to a harsh master in order that they might come to know Christ. That's the big principle. Now working that out in our situation or your situation is really hard. Because I know what happens when you read a passage like this.

There's thousands of ideas. What about what about what about what about what about what about what about what about Hold it. Get the attitude right. To be like Christ. Yeah?

Then try and apply it. What we need here is massive wisdom in applying these things because every situation is different. But never wisdom will always include the wanting to see salvation and not demanding my rights. So whatever situation you're in, if it's about the glory of God in the salvation of the pagans, then that's good. If it's about your rights then that's bad.

So we need to ask the question in any conflict that we face in this world. If anything that the world is against us and thinks that we're its enemies, we need to ask this question What's the course of action that will be best for the glorification of God the Father and the salvation of the Pagan? What's the best course of action? That's the question Peter wants us to ask. That question is so helpful in our choice because it might mean that I need to confront someone who has of powers.

So is Peter writing here saying, woman, your husband is abusive and beats you or is mentally and physically or emotionally abusive. Then you knuckle under and live in in that. Shut up and knuckle under. Is that what Peter said? No.

No. Maybe in certain times because you couldn't get out of that marriage. But for us, is he saying that? No. The best course of action with someone who has destructive patterns of life and maybe even against us in order to bring them to salvation might be to confront that pattern and to leave that situation.

That might be the best thing. But the question is what is the best thing for the salvation of the pagan, the aggressive person, and for the glory of God? That's the question. And of course, you're submitting to the law. That's the net the the first section that that Tom led us in last week.

And so the law very often is very helpful in those situations to bring wisdom. If you're in an abusive relationship, you need to protect the children. That's part of the law. Let me try and illustrate it. A number of years ago, a young girl student in another country.

I won't say her royal name, became a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's call her Anna. So Anna became a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. She was about 19 years of age and she lived with her parents and her dad was an abusive father. He hated the idea that she'd become a Christian.

Even though she was of an age, He locked her in in the house and beat her. He allowed her out to go to universe but he would often follow her and wait for her and then bring her back to the house and locked her in and beat her and she wasn't allowed to come to anything Christian. What do you do in that situation? Well, you have to ask this question. What is the best thing for the gospel here?

What is the best thing to even bring that pagan to the Lord Jesus Christ? What do we do? He's physically harming her. That's not good. Well, I can tell you what we did.

We rescued her. We went to the university with her she wanted to do this. We got her in the car, we drove her away from her father. We hid her. For 3 months, we hid her.

Yeah? That was the right thing to do. He was furious. But even the night we rescued her, we told her, Anna, to ring her dad and say, I'm safe. I'm doing this because I believe in the lord Jesus Christ.

And that you are acting improperly and I could take you to the police but I'm not going to in this occasion. I am honoring you, I am loving you, I am showing you, I'm well thought through, I'm showing you this isn't just an emotional response. But you can't live like that, and I can't live like that. And so we rescued her and she phoned him every day and told him where he was where it didn't tell her where she didn't tell her tell him where she was, but she did say she was safe. That to me fits this.

That's what I'm saying. That's what Peter said. What's the best thing for the gospel? That led to her growing in the faith Her marrying a Christian man, her having children that have come to know the Lord Jesus Christ and them witnessing to this man now that he's safer and in his right mind and he hears the gospel. He hasn't become a Christian, but that's Do you see?

Freedom means you have a choice, and your choice is to act in the best way that brings glory to God and salvation to the paid That's how to use your freedom. Christian, you are a representative of Jesus on earth You are an advert for the beauty of God. And therefore, as Christ was missed treated, and yet God used it for glory, so may you be. But whatever's right for the glory of God and the salvation of the Pagan, So do you have an uncaring boss? Do you have a supervisor or a manager that isn't fair?

Do you have to deal with unreasonable and stupid people at work? The natural tendency of the human heart is to fight back. To that unreasonable treatment. But Peter's point is, if you seek revenge when you suffer unjustly. Could it be that you have a self appointed lordship and not God as your Lord?

Revenge is totally inappropriate for the Christian. So there's a different attitude and there's a different focus. The attitude is 1 to use my freedom in ways that look submissive and my focus towards the Lord Jesus Christ live such good lives among the pagans we're told. In order to see them come to Christ. Jesus says this.

Jesus says this in the sermon on the mount. Bless to those who are persecuted because of righteousness. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Bless to you when people insult you, persecute you, and forcedly say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven.

For in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you, and Jesus who is after you. You've heard that it was said, an eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth, but I tell you do not resist an evil person. If someone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you or take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go 1 mile, go with them 2 miles.

Give to the 1 who asks you and do not turn away from the 1 who wants to borrow from you. You've heard it's been said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy, but I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your father in heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you. What reward will you get?

Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people What are you doing? More than others? Do not even the pagans do that? Be perfect therefore as your heavenly father is perfect.

This is massive stuff, isn't it? If we come anywhere near this, we are going to stand out. Says Peter, in order to bring glory to God and win the Pagan. Now let me just finish. Some of you will have questions about slaves from this passage.

This is not everything the Bible says about, slavery. In fact, really Peter, his whole point is to use your freedom in order to win the pagans so submit. Paul, if you read him, a writer in the new testament, says that if you're slaves and you can get your freedom legitimately, get it. But if you can't, You can still live for God and that is what counts with your life. That's the beauty of all of this.

Whether you're a rich free man or a poor slave, both of you need to abstain from your sinful nature when you're treated badly and live so good lives amongst the pagans, they might come to Christ. Both of you got the same task. Both are to use your freedoms for God's purpose, which is the glorification of God and the salvation of the lost. You've got the same mission whether you're a slave or a free man. Same calling, just different areas of life.

And God's placed you perhaps there to suffer in this area in order to be his missionary. Both of you, rich and poor are loved by God sent by God and can serve God. And that's the wonder of these verses, isn't it? If if these it's amazing what what Peter is doing in in these verses. What is he doing?

He's reasoning with slaves. He's respecting slaves. He's treating slaves as if they're free men in Christ. You're free, but don't use your freedom for for self. He's treating them as independent thinking beings.

That thought that very writing alone was so radical that it actually eventually changed. The Roman Empire and got rid of slavery in the Roman Empire. So you are as important as the free man, whatever you're going through. Okay. Hope it hasn't been too heavy.

It's it's big stuff for us to really get into us. Let me try and summarize. It's simple, really. I don't know why it made it so confusing. Live a life worthy of the gospel.

Live a life worthy of Jesus, and live a life best for the gospel. Live a life best for Jesus. If that means harsh treatment and even a beating, if that's the best way to live and the worthiest way to live, then live it. You've got something bigger to live for. If that means you can get out of that job and leave that situation, and there's more opportunity to spread the gospel than do it.

But whatever you do in this world, whatever you're about use your freedom to bring glory to God by seeing the pagan saved. That's what Peter Peter say, and that is radical. It will hurt in this world to reach harsh resistant people, but let's do it. Let's do it. Father God, you know us inside out.

You know how easy it is for us, not to abstain from a sinful nature, to react, to demand our rights, not to be like Jesus. Help us in our situation. Whatever that situation is, whatever the wisdom is, the root we take, help us to not just demand our rights. But to live such free lives that even those against us will not be able to blaspheme the Lord God. We pray this in Jesus name,