Living the Life of a Slave

Transcript

GR1935
11/22/2015
Living the Life of a Slave
I Peter 2:18-25
Gil Rugh

We are going to I Peter chapter 2, in your Bibles and as we have noted as true with the New Testament books they are a mixture of what we would call doctrine and practice. Doctrine and the application of doctrine in our lives and that is what Peter is talking about, the application of the doctrine in our lives.

In verse 12 of I Peter chapter 2 he says, “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles.” Keep in mind he is writing primarily to Jewish believers but much of what he says is applicable to all believers. “So that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may be because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” And as we often remind ourselves it is so important to keep the order clear. We are not saved by doing good deeds but when we are saved we are saved so that we can do good deeds which are the deeds that are pleasing to God. Ephesians chapter 2:9: “For by grace you have saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not as the result of works lest any man should boast.” Then we come to verse 10 and “We were created in Him for good works which God created beforehand that we should walk in them.” Naturally if He is going to change our heart He is going to make us new on the inside. Then that will manifest itself in our daily walk on the outside as we manifest His character. It doesn’t mean we don’t walk through the normal circumstances of life and that is what he is talking about beginning in verse 13 and it will run all the way down into the opening part of chapter 3 talking about various areas where believers must manifest their godly character in relationships to being submissive to those who are in positions of authority over them. And in particular he has emphasized being submissive to unbelievers who may be in authority over us. These believers that Peter is writing to are going through times of distress and trial.

Back in chapter 1, verse 6: “In this you greatly rejoice even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable even though tested by fire would be found to result in praise, honor and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

Some of these trials and testing’s are really severe but he reminds them these are refining trials, these are purifying trials, these are testing trials to develop and reveal the character of God in us.

So in chapter 2 he gave the command to “submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” It is because we have been saved, become citizens of heaven as Paul wrote to the Philippians it doesn’t mean that we are now freed from the obligations of what we call normal life here on this earth. So we submit ourselves for the Lord’s sake. That becomes key through this whole section of submission. We are doing it to honor God. We are doing it to please Him. So we don’t get caught up in just what we might view as the negative of being in this submissive relationship, enduring maybe what is unpleasant. I keep in perspective this is done for the Lord’s sake, to honor Him, to please Him. So it is important.

Sometimes you will see what I would call the fringe groups, radical groups trying to claim Bible verses to show they are not responsible to government, they are not responsible for paying taxes. That has nothing to do with correctly handling the Scripture.

First he talked about human governmental authorities from the king on down to what we call the lower, local levels. We are to be submissive. Christians are to be good citizens and we reminded ourselves Nero is the Roman ruler at this time who is infamous for his vile character that Paul writes and Peter writes, we are submissive. Not because of his character, not because he’s worthy of honor in the decisions he makes because he is in the position that God has put him in. And we are submissive to him because we want to please God and this is God’s will for us.

The warning was in verse 16: “Conduct yourselves as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but as slaves of God.” I don’t lose my perspective. Ultimately I am the slave of God and I am obeying these human rulers because it is God’s will for me and if I am truly His slave I will do His will. So I do it for the Lord’s sake and then he gave a series of four brief commands in verse 17: “honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.” This general statement that in our life on this earth we give testimony to the work of God in our life because of the character we manifest in treating people as we should as God’s people.
Then he comes back to focus particularly on submissiveness again. And really you have the initial command in verse 13: “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution.” The first example we had were governmental authorities.

Now in verse 18 he picks up that same theme, servants being submissive. A participle here we often put as noted in our English often ‘ing’ ending words so here he is picking up on the initial command, “You submit yourselves to every human institution for the Lord’s sake.” Down in verse 18: “Servants being submissive to your masters with all respect.”

We come to the issue of slavery. It was pervasive in Biblical times. There were millions of slaves. One writer in talking about this said, “Throughout the Roman Empire there were as many as 60 million slaves.” Now there are good sides and bad sides to slaves in Biblical times and this writer notes: “It was by no means only menial tasks which were performed by slaves. Doctors, teachers, musicians, actors, secretaries, stewards were slaves. In fact all the work of Rome was done by slaves. By this time the Roman attitude was that there was no point in being master of the world and doing one’s own work. Let the slaves do that and let the citizens live in pampered idleness.” He even sort of finds some identification of that in our day. “Many slaves were loved and trusted members of the family.” So not every slave was in a wretched, miserable condition but one great inescapable fact dominated the whole situation.

In Roman law a slave was not a person. He was a thing and he had absolutely no legal rights whatsoever. So even in the best condition you were an individual who had no legal rights. You were in the same category as a thing. Cicero in a little before New Testament times, Cicero died in 43 B.C. but he once writes: “It would be better to lighten the ship in emergency by throwing an old slave into the sea rather than a good horse.” I sort of take that personally being my age but you can see, a slave is just a thing and if you have an old slave who is about worn out and not a lot of use but you have a good horse that has years ahead of him you throw this slave into the sea, save the horse. You see a slave is just another thing so it is just a matter of what will I get the most use out of; many examples of the slavery and the cruelty that went with it. We won’t go through that but New Testament does not debate the morality of slavery. It is not pro slavery it is not anti- slavery. Christianity exists within the framework of the situation in which it is placed just like having a king or having a president or having a prime minister. These things are different earthly situations. The persuasiveness of slavery you get an idea that just because it comes up repeatedly in New Testament letters and the instruction is clear. We are focusing on the slaves so we won’t note as much about the masters.

Come back to I Corinthians chapter 7 and an example where an indication that becoming a Christian doesn’t mean that you should now fight for your freedom because if I am a slave of God I shouldn’t be a slave of man. The New Testament does not see a conflict there. I am a slave of the living God and so I perform the task that I am placed in and that is being a slave in this life. Then I do that in a manner that will please God and manifest His character in that situation.

So in I Corinthians chapter 7; look down in verse 20: “Each man must remain in that condition in which he was called. Were you called while a slave? Do not worry about it but if you are able also to become free rather do that. For he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord’s freed man. Likewise he who was called while free is Christ’s slave.” It says from both sides you keep a perspective. If you are a slave you were set free truly in Christ and if you are a master instead of a slave when you place your faith in Christ you became a slave of the living God so in the ultimate perspective both can see it. “You were bought with a price.” Do not become slaves of men.

We say, “Well wait, if I take that verse just out of the context” and I think well then when you become a believer you must reject human slavery. No, “Brethren, each one is to remain with God in that condition in which he was called.” In other words you are called to salvation in Christ but doesn’t require a change in your physical situation. Now obviously some things would change. If you are a thief, the one who stole is to steal no longer and so on but as far as if I am a physical slave I don’t have to think that because now I am a Christian, a slave of Christ, I can’t be a slave of man. My ultimate slavery is to Christ and He tells me that I am to serve as a slave of Christ; so the issue of slavery, no slavery.

Sometimes Christians are criticized and some misuse the Bible. I was reading a man from the 19th century who was often referred to and his writings have been preserved in multiple volumes. He was a Southern Presbyterian and he writes a disgusting section on slavery and sees other races as inferior and everybody recognizes that arguing for the maintaining of slavery. That is a misuse of Scripture. Slavery in the Roman Empire was not racial. Since you are a Roman and you get the spoils of victory but whoever got conquered would be enslaved. It didn’t matter what your race was. Rome ruled the world. Every other race then is qualified to be enslaved. So it is a little different than the slavery we have had but the point is our social and physical situations don’t necessarily change by our conversion.

Alright, come over to Ephesians chapter 6 and you see this repeatedly comes up. Paul addresses it, verse 5: “Slaves be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh with fear and trembling and sincerity of heart as to Christ. Not by way of eye service as men pleasers as slaves of Christ doing the will of God from the heart with good will render service as to the Lord not to men knowing whatever good think each one does he will receive back from the Lord whether free or slave.”

We have to be careful that we don’t make the issue something other than the Scripture makes it. A slave could be terribly frustrated. I am a Christian. Think of what I could do for the Lord if I was free and not serving this tyrant of a master who is so unfair and ungodly. That is where Peter is going. But wait, you are the slave of Christ and who has put you in this situation? That is the purpose and plan of God that you be where you are. Now it may be His purpose and plan that you could be set free and that’s fine as we read in I Corinthians 7 but that discontent should not be there because we are serving Christ wherever we are, however menial the task looks like from the human perspective service to the living God is never menial or unimportant because the Lord will reward. That is what he says in verse 8. Ultimately I am doing it to the Lord and when He is pleased there is reward; so similar instructions.

Over after Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians chapter 3, verse 22: “Slaves in all things obey those who are your masters on earth. Not with external service as those who please men but with sincerity of heart fearing the Lord.” Slaves that don’t know the Lord are going to do everything they can to look good when the master is watching but when he is not, slack off. We do it all the time with a desire to please the Lord. “Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than for men.” Why? “Knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong that he has done without partiality.”

So we don’t think “well, if I had the opportunity in a different area, in a different way I could be effective for the Lord.” Well I have to realize, Lord You have put me here and this is where I can be most effective for what You want to do in my life now. And I must do it in a way that pleases Him.

I Timothy chapter 6, I Timothy chapter 6, verse 1: “All who are under the yoke as slaves are to regard their own masters worthy of all honor.” Now not all masters are honorable because of their good character and graciousness and so on but are all worthy of honor because they are the master. “And so that the name of God and our doctrine will not be spoken against.” You see Scripture teaches clearly, this is part of our testimony for Christ. “Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren but must serve them all the more because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles.”

You know it is easy to think well my master is a Christian. If he really wanted to be godly he would set me free. He would realize I need more time to myself than the others as slaves and so on. No, you serve him with all the more diligence because you happy that another believer is getting the benefit of your slavery and service.

One more passage, Titus chapter 2 and then we will get to Peter. Titus chapter 2, verse 9: “Urge slaves to be subject to their own masters in everything. To be well pleasing, not argumentative, not pilfering, showing all good faith so they will adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect.” “Adorning the doctrine of God our Savior;” encouraging. You know that’s why we say our life is transformed and the most menial tasks are elevated when we realize I am doing this to please the Lord. Every detail and aspect of my life I want to be done to honor Him.

So slaves are not in a position where they can’t really honor the Lord. Now think about it. You’ve got the church, many of the churches would have had slaves and perhaps large numbers of the members of the church would have been slaves. Maybe that’s why we have so much said to slaves and so little said to masters. And the general character of masters would be clearly covered in all the Scriptures so particular pressure is on the slave.

Come back to Peter. Alright “Servants be submissive to your masters with all respect; not only to those who are good and gentle but to those who are unreasonable.” And before we go further let me read you what one commentator has noted: “Even though there is no exact parallel to such servant or slave status in modern society the fact that this was by far the most common kind of employee, employer relationship in the ancient world that encompassed a broad range of degrees of functional and economic freedom means that the application of Peter’s direct is to employees today is a very appropriate one.”

So even though we in our country don’t live with a slave kind of environment we have employees and employers and as I read to you in Biblical times this encompassed all kinds of activities from teachers and doctors and everybody else carrying out service to others. So the principles established here would be the same and some of you work with people who are gentle and good. Some that you work for are unreasonable. That is the same with the masters of the slaves. Some got treated fairly. Understanding masters treated them with dignity, reimbursed them because they could be paid for their labors. In that sense the slaves could in some situations have opportunity to earn their freedom or save up to buy their freedom but other masters were just totally unreasonable. You keep in mind that is totally controlled by the master because you have no legal rights. You can’t appeal like Paul could as a Roman citizen, “I appeal to Caesar.” A slave had legal right. There was no court of appeal.

Some of the records that I have clipped out but I won’t read but how the terrible mistreatment of slaves were, inhumane we would say but that was the reality of life. “You are submissive to your masters with all respect, even to the unreasonable.” That word ‘unreasonable’ you note you have a note in your margin it is the perverse, the twisted, the crooked. It would involve not only one writer noted, “Not only physical mistreatment but dishonesty regarding pay, working conditions, expectations and so on. You have a master and you worked as hard as you could to do the best you could do and he comes in and beats you because he’s not happy. Maybe he had a bad day. Maybe he and his wife had a fight. He’s just in a bad mood. It’s not fair. That is what he is talking about, “You do it with all respect even the perverse, the unreasonable.”

Why do you want to do that? “For this finds favor,” verse 19. We are contrasting here between the best masters and the worst masters. It’s not between Christians and non-Christian masters. The Christian masters obviously ought to treat their slaves with respect but he is primarily just here you know, just like in our world today you have employers who treat their employees very fairly and generously. They may not be believers but they are those kind of people. Others don’t do that. So that is the situation.

Why would you do this? This finds favor, grace. This is what will please God. “If for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.” It is unfair. There are sorrows because of the unfair treatment, the unjust. It doesn’t say the treatment is not unjust. It can be very unjust and unfair.

Talk about servants who had eyes put out and gross things in the abuse they got. “You bear up under it because of conscience toward God.” God in all this I want to honor You, to be a testimony of Your grace in my life. Not easy to do but that is what he’s encouraging them to do, what God’s grace will enable.

So the point is when you are suffering unjustly that’s when the pressure is on in all positions of submissiveness. We talked about that with government would obviously be true in a slave relationship to a master, in an employee’s relationship to an employer. It’s not fair. I am not being treated fairly. Why did I get passed over for a promotion? Why didn’t I get a raise like somebody else did? What is my character like? I become an unpleasant employee. I complain. I grumble. I only do the minimum I have to do to get by. Be a terrible testimony. We do the best we can because of our conscience toward God.

Verse 20: “For what credit is there when you sin and are harshly treated you endure it with patience?” You should expect to be punished, harshly treated. It means to be beaten. The word basically means to be hit with the fist and it comes to be a word that is used of getting a beating. If you get a beating for not doing good and you patiently endure it because you say, “I really deserve this” what credit it that? But if you do what is right and you suffer for it patiently, you endure it patiently, this finds favor with God. It is pleasing to Him. That doesn’t mean you are looking to be punished but when you are punished unfairly there is not much you can do about it. But when you handle it Biblically you do what is right. You suffer patiently under such treatment. You are doing it because “Lord I want to please You.”

I have shared when you read the account of martyrs in church history it amazes me the grace they show as they are being terribly tortured and ultimately put to death. Their concern is praying “O, God give me grace to endure this, give me grace to be patient with this.” You don’t find them cursing their torturers and things like that.

You know a testimony is on the line in these everyday activities. You get up on a Monday morning and you say, “Not another day at work. My work is a grind and it is unpleasant and I work with unpleasant people and my boss. I had a good boss and I don’t know what happened now. I have a new boss and he is unbearable and Lord I don’t know I can hardly face this.” Wait a minute. “Lord, you have put the day before me. You’ve arranged the circumstances of my life for this day. There are no accidents in my life. There are no mistakes. So I want this day to be lived for You whatever my situation, whatever my circumstance and I have greater opportunity,” if I can put it this way, the more negative this circumstances are.”

If you have a great boss who says, “O, I hope you didn’t get up too early. Well you came in early today, leave early and take a longer lunch. I am going to give you an extra bonus and two helpers because I don’t want you to be overloaded. I want you to have plenty of time for your family and relaxing.” With that kind of boss it’s easy to be cheerful. It’s the ones who aren’t fair. You say, “Well Lord you have put me here and given me greater opportunity to testify of Your grace and to honor You with my service.

So we endure during these situations for the sake of conscience toward God and we bear up even when treated unjustly. We do what is good.

Now we come to the great example. We say, “Well this seems unreasonable. I mean let’s be practical. Does anyone really live like this?” Well, all of us as believers are. That’s what he says. Verse 21: “You have been called for this purpose.” “Lord, I didn’t sign up for this. I thought when I put my faith in You and” you know, you hear this is the health and wealth kind of preaching. Life will get better. God will prosper you. There are better days ahead and think of what you want God to do and He will do it. You know you have been called for this purpose. What? To follow a Savior that was rejected. You know one thing; Christ never put out there, “Trust in Me and the road ahead will be smooth. Trust in Me and your problems will dissolve. Trust in Me and life will be good.” What did He say? “You can’t be My disciple if you don’t take up your cross and follow Me.” Now no one in New Testament times thought taking up a cross had some kind of comfortable life associated with it. As I said, you’ve been called for this purpose and Christ is the example. He’s going to give the example of Christ but we remember we are not saved by trying to follow the example of Christ. That those who have been saved by God’s grace through the faith in the payment that Christ has made which is the second part of what he discusses in these closing verses of this chapter enable you to live the life that reflects the life of Christ.

He’s going to draw heavily on Isaiah 53 through this section and you might take time this evening or sometime this week to re-read Isaiah 53 and you will reflect on this passage and we will draw some attention to that. He flows out of particularly the harshest kind of submissiveness which could be the most unfair the life of a slave and so “you have been called for this purpose.” The call of God to salvation, called by God to the salvation that we received in Christ. “Since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example to follow in His steps.”

You know, no matter how many times we go through passages like this we get into the situation. It is a challenge to live it out. Remember in John 15 Jesus told His disciples on that last night, “They have hated Me, they will hate you.” Why should a slave think he should get better treatment than his master? But if we are not careful as believers we begin to adopt the world’s thinking and the thinking of the prosperous country we live in, we deserve a comfortable life. We deserve to be treated a certain way. That is what he is addressing. “Since Christ also suffered for you.”

He is going to focus on the suffering. It’s not that we can reproduce the redemptive death of Christ but how He handled the sufferings surrounding His crucifixion are an example for how we endure unjust sufferings. “Leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” He is going to talk about four things that Christ did not do when He was suffering unjustly then he will mention the one thing He did do at the end of verse 23.

Now look at verse 22 where he quotes from Isaiah 53. “Who committed no sin nor was any deceit found in His mouth.” Christ never sinned in word or action. So any suffering He received was unjust and unfair. He was a perfect man. So there would never be any reason for Him to be treated any other way than fairly. He should not have suffered for anything. You suffer when you do something wrong but He never did anything wrong.

Now we can’t claim that, but we have a pattern to follow. So how can I expect that I should be treated “fairly” all the time? And when I am not they will hear about it and when they are not paying me right or treating me right then they will get what they pay for. Wait a minute wait a minute. I am in a different relationship here. I am a slave ultimately of the one who came and suffered and died for me and now as His servant I want to please Him by following the pattern He set for me and He is the one who “committed no sin nor was any deceit found in His mouth.” So in conduct, in word, He never sinned.

Verse 23: “While being reviled He did not revile in return. While suffering He uttered no threats.” It is all these things He did not do. He didn’t revile in return. He didn’t utter threats but He did what He entrusted Himself to Him who judges righteously.

Isaiah 53:7 – let me read it to you. We won’t turn back there. “He was oppressed and He was afflicted yet He did not open His mouth. Like a lamb that is led to slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before his shearers so He did not open His mouth.” Through it all He didn’t threaten them. He said He could call upon the Father and He would send Him 10,000 angels, myriads of angels but He didn’t threaten them. “Some day you will stand before Me and condemned to hell. You are godless.” No, He suffered silently even when before Pilate “Don’t you give me an answer, don’t you know that I have the power.” “You wouldn’t have any power unless My Father had given it to you.” He submits Himself to the will of His Father and entrusted Himself at the end of verse 23: “To Him who judges righteously.” God will carry out His purposes. I am submissive. He’s the one who said, “I always do the will of My Father.” Here it was to suffer the unjust punishment. Unjust in that He didn’t deserve it but it was required to pay the penalty for our sins.

So verse 24 and again drawn from Isaiah chapter 53: “He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross.” That’s why all of His suffering the suffering that led up to beating, the plucking of the beard, the crown of thorns, all the suffering, all the abuse hurled at Him then climaxing with the crucifixion but what? Climaxed so He could bear our sins in His body on that cross, that piece of wood which Deuteronomy said, “The One who hung on the tree was cursed.” He is becoming a curse for us. He does this all willingly, patiently, silently without reviling, without giving our threats and we are to follow in His steps.

I never suffered like He suffered and I will never be treated as unfairly as Him because even if I have been treated unfairly in this situation you know there has been a lot of times when I haven’t been punished for what I should have been punished for. Now I know at heart I am a sinner but He never was and He leaves an example. If He would go through such unjust and terrible suffering what is He doing? He is leaving me an example to follow in His steps. Not so I can be saved but why one who has been saved by His grace and now claims Him as my master I don’t expect to be treated better than Him. If they hated Him they will hate me. And in every situation in life there will be unfairness and when God puts me in an especially difficult situation I have opportunity to manifest more clearly His work.

“He bore our sins in His body on the cross.” He had to be born into the human race. He had to take to Himself humanity. He didn’t become an angel, Hebrews chapter 2 and die to provide salvation for sinful angels so there is no salvation for fallen angels but He did take to Himself humanity so as the God man He could pay the penalty for our sins.

So He bore our sins in His body on the cross. He died there for us. All the suffering, the death was for us so that – here is the purpose: “We might die to sin and live to righteousness.” What happens when we place our faith in Christ? We die with Him. The old man is crucified with Him, Romans 6. Buried with Him and raised with Him to new life. What we studied in 2 Corinthians 5: “If anyone be in Christ he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things have passed away, new things have come.”

That “we might die to sin.” But that’s not the end of it and “live to righteousness.” And that is what Peter is talking about here now. How we shall live. We’ve died to sin, the penalty has been paid but also the power has been broken. We no longer live under the power of sin.

Come back to Romans 6, verse 5: “For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death certainly we shall be in the likeness of His resurrection.” So you know we die to sin and live to righteousness “Knowing this, our old self, (our old man) was crucified with Him in Him in order that our body of sin might be done away with” (rendered powerless – that Greek word katargeto. Its power of broken so we longer serve sin that we might “no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.” Verse 10: The death He died, He died to sin, once for all; the life He lives He lives to God. Consider yourselves dead to sin, alive to God. That’s why we keep going from the doctrinal foundation of our redemption in Christ to the life that we live. This is why you cannot reverse the order. People think I am trying to follow the example of Christ. I am trying to be like Christ. I am trying to do what He would… but if you have never been cleansed and made new you can’t. That is the emptiness of all religious activity, of all good works. It takes death before the penalty is paid before the power of sin to enslave you is broken.

Come down to verse 15: “Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!” Verse 17: “Thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you,” verse 18: “Having been freed from sin you became slaves of righteousness.” We live life one way now we live it another. That is the point.

Verse 22: “Having been freed from sin and enslaved to God.” That is the new life. We died, we’re made alive.

Come back to Peter. “So we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” That is what he is talking about. How do we live, very practically. It’s not only just being holy and praying and reading my Bible and coming to church. He carries it out into our everyday life in carrying out obedience to governing authorities, paying taxes whatever. If you are a slave, getting up after him not giving you enough time for a decent night’s sleep and going and toiling and being mistreated and not becoming a grumbling, unhappy, discontent, not looking for ways to get by. Even as slaves you know they were warning about stealing, pilfering, being dishonest, being trustworthy even when your master is not there watching. You know we all have that.

Years ago I came into the building and you know I am supposed to be I guess ‘he one who is over some of the employees here’ and I’m walking down the hall. I came by the receptionist, walked down the hall and I walked by one of the offices the door was open and I heard over the speaker phone, “heads up, old blue eyes is in the building.” Well, everybody was really working but that would be what the slaves aren’t to do. You know, “Here comes my master. Everybody get up.” You know, that kind of thing. So live in a practical realm. Christianity is very practical.

Someone several years ago had a business and I used to have opportunity to visit with him and he was a professing believer and we would talk. Well, when I get done with this job I am really going to serve the Lord. Then something else and years later, something else. Well thinking next year I am going to be done this and I am really going to serve the Lord. You know what? The Lord places us where He wants us to serve Him today. This may be the last day of my life. The situation He has put me in, it’s beautiful. As a slave it is different. I have the most mean, cruel, unfair master. That doesn’t mean I like to be treated unfairly. But I thank God for His grace that enables me to endure it and be a testimony of His grace in the doing of it. I am living righteously. I died to sin.

“By His wounds you were healed” and in the context He is talking about the salvation of God. Ultimately all sickness will be removed when Christ rules and reigns on this earth that what He was indicating in His healing when He was on earth and the kingdom was offered to Israel and His healings were a demonstration that He was the Messiah who could bring release from the consequences of sin. But the healing He is talking about in the context here and in Isaiah 53 is primarily the healing from sin, the spiritual healing because the physical sin and physical deterioration and the curse on the creation is a result of the sin of the heart. That is why the whole creation groans waiting the time when Christ will reign and the curse will be lifted from the creation.

So He is talking about the spiritual healing. We have been healed. We have been made new. We have been set free from the penalty and power of sin. Now by the grace and power of God we live a new life in the most mundane and difficult of circumstances.

“All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each one has turned to his own way and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.” That is from Isaiah 53.

Here’s verse 25: “You were continually straying like sheep but now you have returned,” (or turned, a word that is used of conversion like it is in I Thessalonians 1:9 “You turned to God from idols.” You have returned or turned “to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” That is what happens.

We talk about turning from sin to God, conversion. Different words that picture what happens in our salvation and Jesus Christ is the Shepherd. He is the guardian, the overseer of our souls. What a comfort; a reminder to those enduring very unpleasant circumstances in their slavery. I now am under the care of the shepherd and guardian of my soul. I may be suffering great physical injustice and pain, being treated unfairly but that is all right. I honor Him and I know He is caring for me, right?

He is going to tell us over in chapter 5 of I Peter, verse 6: “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time. Casting all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you.” That is my situation. It makes life more than bearable. Every day I know I am going out to serve the Lord. I am going out to be used as a testimony of His grace. I am in this difficult job because it’s what God has provided where He has put me. It doesn’t mean you can’t change jobs, get a better job, a more pleasant job, a better paying job if He provides the opportunity but it does mean I don’t need to. In fact I better not live my life in discontent and frustration, unhappiness with where God has put me. Sometimes I talk if you are unhappy there, why don’t you change? I can’t. Well then God intends you to honor Him and experience the peace and contentment He can give you in that. What I can’t change then I have to assume is His will for me now. Right? Unless I don’t believe God is completely sovereign and somehow I ended up in a situation where it is not His will for me to be. If I am convinced it is not His will for me to be here I better get out of here. But a slave can’t get out of here and sometimes you are in your own kind of slavery because you have to pay the bills or other situations. I have to say, “Lord, You put me here. You could change the circumstance or You could put me in a different one. Lord, You could have my master die. Lord that would be wonderful. Lord, make it happen tonight.” Now wait a minute. Is that what I am supposed to praying? Or should I be praying, “Lord, give me the added grace I need, the faith to trust You to draw upon the power of Your indwelling Spirit to testify for You here. Lord keep me from being consumed with the desire to be free from the unpleasantness and fill me with the desire to honor You in the context of the unpleasantness.

It is like what Paul wrote in I Corinthians 7 where we started. If you have the opportunity to become free use it. But don’t think you have to become free from slavery just because you became a believer. Marvelous thing God can use us wherever we are. So tomorrow we will be in all kinds of different places and different situations but there will be one thing true of us all. God puts us there to testify of His grace in our lives and give us the opportunity to manifest His character. Some of us will be in more pleasant situations. Some of us in less pleasant situations but we all have the same confidence. I am here by the appointment of God. It is His plan for me and this is the place where I can best honor Him and bring glory to Him and I want to do it to the fullest possible extent. That is what He has done for us in what He did for us in Christ to provide new life.

Let’s pray together. Thank You Lord for such great grace, the salvation that transforms our lives and Lord we live in a sin cursed world, a world under the curse, the results of rebellion against You. Lord we live in this world of darkness as Your children. We are sons of light. We are lights in the darkness. Lord You know the circumstance and situation of each one of us as Your children. You know the difficulties and trials and pressures that at times seem overwhelming and unbearable. You are the God of all grace, of all sufficiency, of all power. Lord we want to be a testimony of Your grace and manifest Your character is every situation. Lord, as we have opportunity we want to encourage one another, pray for one another. Lord we thank You that each of us in our own way, in our own place are to be testimonies of Your grace and You are sufficient no matter what that may be. We pray for the week ahead of us. Lord, use our testimony for You with friends and family to impact lives. May You be honored we pray in Christ’s name, amen.