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Welcome to Bible study. Let's make our way to our seats and let's take a couple minutes to pray. Prepare our hearts for worship. (praying in a foreign language) (praying in a foreign language) (praying in a foreign language) (praying in a foreign language) (praying in a foreign language) Let's pray.

Dear Lord, we thank you for bringing us here tonight from wherever we're coming from, whether it be work or school or wherever we may be coming from, we thank you that we have the privilege of coming here, gathering, to sing worship to you, to hear your word and to just have fellowship with one another.

I pray again, God, for strength as we may be tired from a long day, to be focused and that our minds would be attentive and that we would come just hungry to learn from your word and to just have a good time of just fellowship and worship and that you would be honored and glorified in this time.

I pray that as we go into a time of just singing these songs that you allow us to reflect on the lyrics that we sing to you, that it would be a pleasing aroma to you. We thank you again, God, in your name we pray, amen. Can we all stand for a time of praise?

(gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ He became sin ♪ ♪ Who knew no sin ♪ ♪ That we might become ♪ ♪ His righteousness ♪ ♪ He humbled himself ♪ ♪ And carried the cross ♪ ♪ Love so amazing ♪ ♪ Love so amazing ♪ ♪ Jesus Messiah ♪ ♪ Name above all names ♪ ♪ Blessed Redeemer ♪ ♪ Emmanuel ♪ ♪ The rescue for sinners ♪ ♪ The ransom from heaven ♪ ♪ Jesus Messiah ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ His body.

♪ His body the bread ♪ ♪ His blood the wine ♪ ♪ Broken and poured out ♪ ♪ All for love ♪ ♪ The whole earth trembled ♪ ♪ And the veil was torn ♪ ♪ Love so amazing ♪ ♪ Love so amazing ♪ ♪ Jesus Messiah ♪ ♪ Name above all names ♪ ♪ Blessed Redeemer ♪ ♪ Emmanuel ♪ ♪ The rescue for sinners ♪ ♪ The ransom from heaven ♪ ♪ Jesus Messiah ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ All our hope.

♪ All our hope is in you ♪ ♪ All our hope is in you ♪ ♪ All the glory to you God ♪ ♪ The light of the world ♪ ♪ Jesus Messiah ♪ ♪ Name above all names ♪ ♪ Blessed Redeemer ♪ ♪ Emmanuel ♪ ♪ The rescue for sinners ♪ ♪ The ransom from heaven ♪ ♪ Jesus Messiah ♪ ♪ Lord of all ♪ ♪ Worthy of every song we could ever sing ♪ ♪ Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring ♪ ♪ Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you ♪ ♪ Jesus the name above every other name ♪ ♪ Jesus the only one who could ever save ♪ ♪ Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you ♪ ♪ We live for you ♪ ♪ And holy there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none besides you ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ And show me who you are ♪ ♪ And fill me with your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in your love to those around me ♪ (gentle music) ♪ Worthy of every song we could ever sing ♪ ♪ Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring ♪ ♪ Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you ♪ ♪ Jesus the name above every other name ♪ ♪ Jesus the only one who could ever save ♪ ♪ Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe ♪ ♪ We live for you ♪ ♪ We live for you ♪ ♪ And holy there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none besides you ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ And show me who you are ♪ ♪ And fill me with your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in your love to those around me ♪ (gentle music) (gentle music) ♪ I will build my life ♪ ♪ I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ ♪ And I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ ♪ I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ ♪ And I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ ♪ And holy there is no one like you ♪ ♪ There is none besides you ♪ ♪ Open up my eyes in wonder ♪ ♪ And show me who you are ♪ ♪ And fill me with your heart ♪ ♪ And lead me in your love to those around me ♪ ♪ And I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ ♪ And I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ ♪ I will build my life upon your love ♪ ♪ It is a firm foundation ♪ ♪ And I will put my trust in you alone ♪ ♪ And I will not be shaken ♪ ♪ I will not be shaken ♪ - You may be seated.

Good evening. Let me pray for us. And then we'll get the Bible study started. Lord, we are very thankful just that you provide for us the freedom and the means to get together tonight and the resources that are available to us to dive deeply into your word. And I pray especially, Lord God, for those of us who've really longed to meet you through your word.

I pray, Father, that you would minister thoroughly in and through us today. And Father, I pray, Lord God, as I'm sure there are those of us in here who, because of distraction and laziness, are feeling guilty because we haven't prepared, I pray, Father, that you would help us to long for your word and to remove the distractions that hinder us from having an appetite for your word.

And I pray that as we discuss, as we share, that you really would be honored and that you would transform our thoughts, renew our minds, and cause us to leave here more like Christ. So we pray that you would guide this time. I pray this in Jesus' name. So I'm gonna, just because we weren't here last week, our text today, the five verses, are surrounded by very sensitive passages that are very humanly offensive and demeaning if we just take it for what it says.

So I'm gonna read, basically, what we're reading today is the why we're supposed to be submissive to the human institutions that are in our lives. So verse 18 of chapter two, and I'll just read one verse of next week's passage. "Servants, be submissive to your masters with all respect, "not only to those who are good and gentle, "but also to those who are unreasonable.

"For this finds favor, "if for the sake of conscience toward God, "a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. "For what credit is there if when you sin "and are harshly treated, you endure with patience? "But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, "you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.

"For you have been called for this purpose "since Christ also suffered for you, "leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, "who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth, "and while being reviled, he did not revile in return. "While suffering, he uttered no threats, "but kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously.

"And he himself bore our sins in his body on the cross "so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, "for by his wounds you were healed. "For you were continually straying like sheep, "but now you have returned to the shepherd "and guardian of your souls, "in the same way you wives be submissive "to your own husbands, so that even if any of them "are disobedient to the word, "they will be won without a word "by the behavior of their wives." So that's the passage for today.

The first part of this, as you guys are very familiar with this by now, it's just a review of what you guys prepared for the five verses. You guys know that this time is not for us to learn, it's for us to share what we've learned at home. So you're gonna share the stuff that you prepared at home, those five verses, and then at the end, if you have a little bit of time, you're gonna be talking about just the reality of when this happens to us.

When are you reviled? When do you want to return evil for evil? And then how do we die to those desires that are in our flesh? So take some time to do that. And at 8.20, we'll come back and do our wrap-up. All right? 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All right, I'm gonna give you about 30 seconds to wrap it up.

Beatrice Chung, you can wrap up your thought. (audience chattering) (audience chattering) All right, I'm gonna turn your attention to the screen up here, and we're gonna review a verse that we looked at a few weeks back. And this is our identity in Christ, okay? It says, "But you are a chosen race, "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, "a people for God's own possession, "so that you may proclaim the excellencies of him "who has called you out of darkness "into his marvelous light." What a beautiful, nice verse, right?

How do you proclaim his excellencies? What is that? In a hostile environment, in a time where the Christian faith is hated, how do you proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness and into his marvelous light? The word call is very important. He's called us this.

He's called us out of darkness, right? And our jobs, proclaim his excellencies. So how does a Christian go about doing this? Do we go shout it from the rooftops? Do we like badger people? That's important. And then verse 11 and 12, talking about living good lives among the Gentiles.

Verse 13 talks about being subject, right? To every human institution, being subject to the king, to governors he sent, to bad masters. And then next week we're gonna be looking at husbands who are unbelieving, wives implied who are a little bit difficult to live with. How do we proclaim the excellencies?

And that's why today's passage is important. Because we're not fighting fire with fire. Okay? Proclaiming the excellencies of Christ who has called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, that's not just shouting it at people. There's a lot of suffering and submitting to that suffering and not retaliating that's involved in this.

And so today, verse 21 to 25 is kind of the why. Right? The commands are surrounding this passage, but this is kind of the example that we're gonna be looking at. So, I added chapter two, verse 15, and then I added chapter three, verse eight to nine, 'cause those are all contextually significant.

So this was today's passage, but before this section, I'm just gonna read verse 15 of chapter two. "For such is the will of God "that by doing right, "you may silence the ignorance of foolish men." And then chapter three, verse eight, "To sum up, all of you be harmonious, "empathetic, brotherly, kindhearted, humble in spirit, "not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, "but giving a blessing instead." So similar to today's.

"For you were called for the very purpose "that you might inherit a blessing." The word call is pretty frequently used in the book of Peter. Okay? You see it three times, I think, just in this. Okay? So the red bull, the first thing I did was, those are the important words for me.

The yellow highlight, it's kind of the, what I call God's call on the Christian. I hear Christians today asking, like, "I wanna know what God's calling is for my life." Suffer! Like, but that, ye, right? You wanna know what God's will is for your life? Do right. Okay, so we're gonna be looking at this today.

The underlying part is the stuff that has been done to the Christian, and the blue bull is the example that Christ has set. And so this is, just for me, a visual organization of this passage. Now, if you guys have noticed, Isaiah 53 is pretty much everything that's quoted in here.

Raise, nod your heads if you actually noticed that, yeah. It's Isaiah 53. And the, follow the example, chupahgramon, it literally means to trace, and that's why you have that little thing there. So this is what you're supposed to do. This is gonna be the outline, and you trace it.

This is the pattern you're supposed to follow. Christ left you this pattern, so start getting used to this, because your call to this, this is your purpose, you're gonna follow it. You're gonna live like Christ is his will for your life. Okay, so Isaiah 53 is used, but not in the order of Isaiah 53, but it's in the kind of Jesus' road to the cross.

So the first little column, I put the example that's been set, or the steps, or the condition, and then the quote in 1 Peter, and then the part of Isaiah that's being quoted. So the first part that we looked at today, Christ committed no sin, no deceit was found in his mouth.

Christ did not insult or threaten in return. Those are things that we can kind of mimic. True or false? Yeah, okay. Christ bore our sins on the tree, now we can't mimic anymore. Okay, but that's mentioned. Why is that mentioned in there? It starts out with, we're supposed to follow his example, and then there's some things that we can't follow.

Okay? By Christ's wounds we were healed. Can I suffer for my non-Christian friend and save him? That's not mimicable. And then the last section of today's passage is we were straying like sheep, and you know, Isaiah 53, 6, that's one of the most memorized passages. Like, we all like sheep have gone astray, each of us to our own way, but he has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

So this is all Isaiah 53. And Isaiah 53 is famous for what? The suffering servant. So this is kind of the outline Peter is using as our example that we're supposed to follow. Is it high calling or low calling? In some ways it's kind of a glorious calling, but a pretty daunting and sucky one, right?

So here is what you and I are called to do. How many of you guys have ever asked this question, what am I called to do? Raise your hands if you, yeah. So in 2009, my wife and I were in China. We were supposed to be there for one year, and we were wrestling with should we extend our stay, because one year is too short, okay?

For any kind of effective ministry. And so we were really wrestling, and then the thought that dawned on me was, the whole time I'm praying, God, are you calling me to China? Are you calling me to China? Is what I was praying. And then the thought that dawned on me was, how about I should, maybe I should pray for the, are you calling me to America?

So I would actually share that with people. Like they would ask me, oh, do you feel called to China? Then I would say, do you feel called to America? No, the command is to go. I should feel called to stay put. So I'm wrestling with this, this word call.

Am I called to be a pastor? Is another thing I wrestled with. And those are things that are a little more tricky to discern, but there are explicit calls in scripture that are very easy to discern that is a call for you, a command for you. So let me rephrase it.

This is God's will for your life. All right, you guys ready for this? This is God's will for your life, what we're gonna be looking at. All right, enjoy. So, chapter one, verse 15, talks about us being called to be holy. You guys, we remember that, right? Chapter two, nine, we're called for the purpose of proclaiming light, or we're proclaiming, sorry, proclaiming the excellencies of God who saved us.

Another call in 1 Peter is not returning insult for insult, but giving you a blessing. That's your call. Chapter five, verse 10, to his eternal glory. So the word call, the word will of God, the word purpose for your life, it shows up a lot. And it's all related to doing stuff that is extremely uncomfortable, unnatural, and very painful, perhaps.

You guys following that? Okay. Is this a suggestion for the Christian, or is this a non-negotiable? It's a non-negotiable. Now, obviously, we don't wanna take that to the extreme, 'cause when we're looking at wives being subject to the husbands, because people have applied this, well, that means if I'm in an abusive relationship, I need to stay.

No, that's not exactly the proper application. Okay? So there are other aspects to that, but we need to understand that the call is to subject ourselves, even at the risk of harm. That much is clear, right? To subject ourselves, to submit ourselves to human institutions, even at the risk of harm, if it means the glory of God.

Najerds, if you're following that thought. Okay? I'm not veering from our text. Okay? A thing that I found that was very interesting was this. He kept entrusting himself. So this is what Jesus did. When he was suffering, he paradidu, right? He handed himself over. He delivered himself. He committed himself to the safekeeping of God, who will sort it all out in righteousness.

Okay? And the main verbs in this, they're all in the imperfect tense. So this spirit of non-retaliation, this meekness, this never returning insult for insult, reviling for reviling, slander for slander, that was characteristic of Jesus' life. Now here was a thought that I had. I actually, when I was meditating on this, it's like, who am I tempted to revile?

I've never been tempted to revile Joe Biden. Despite the gas prices. I actually, I don't. I don't like him. But I've never felt the need to slander him or revile him or make him the devil. I've never once felt tempted to revile Donald Trump, even though his character is not, like, beautiful.

Nor have I ever been threatened to revile Governor Newsom. Nor have I ever felt, like, really disturbed by any employer that I had outside of the church. I mean, I've had people in relationships that have been challenging, but I've never felt the need to, like, repay evil. You guys follow that?

You know who I would be just tempted to revile? Are the relationships that are in my life that mean something to me? Or there is investment there, and I feel betrayed, I feel wronged, I feel injured and harmed and directly sinned against. Or, when a lie is told about me.

I was in Tanzania, taking 20-something people to Tanzania, and in Korea, if you're a professor here, like, this is no offense, but in Korea, professors are not good people. And the professor that I was taking on a trip, for some reason, he got separated from his wife when we were transferring our plane from one city in Tanzania to the other, so he accused me in anger that I did that on purpose to him.

I'm like, I have nothing to say. And I was so angry, right? I wanted to switch his seats on purpose if I could. I was so angry, simply because he lied about me, something I didn't do. Another situation where I'd be tempted to revile is if someone I poured into does me great injury.

That's when I want to revile, that's when I want to slander, that's when I want to injure. So if this person injures me deeply, I want to injure back. Not Joe Biden, not Newsom, perhaps it could be my wife who causes me really deep injury, or my father, or my mom, or that uncle, or this boss who takes advantage of me.

Are you guys tracking along? Usually it's not the government institutions, unless they do something grievous to you. It's those closest to you. This word entrusting, it means God makes no mistakes, amen? Every relationship that you have, every human person in your life, God placed there on purpose with a good and perfect plan.

Agree or disagree? You better agree. Okay? Think about this. Every relationship that has been ordained in your life, God put there. Even the ones that are very painful. Are you guys following this? And if you've done something silly to damage your relationship, okay, that's on you. And if you suffer for it, remember we learned last time, right?

What credit is there if you suffer for doing evil, right? But in a situation where you're completely the victim, when you've done nothing wrong, and you're being damaged by that person. Jesus was surrounded by these kinds of people, where he loved perfectly. He knew their sin. He knew their weakness.

He knew their frame. And they had the audacity to mock him. He washed the feet of the guy who had already made arrangements to betray him on silent Wednesday. He uttered no threats. Instead, he continually entrusted himself to the God who makes no mistakes, who is nothing, is perfectly good, who orchestrates everything for your good.

Even the stuff that don't make sense. So if you think about this, in the relationships that you've been around in your life, this is the model you're supposed to follow. You know the hardest thing about ministry? It's not Bible study prep. You know what it is? People. You! At your work.

Is your work hard or are people hard? People! Family would be great if I was the only one in it. People! In these relationships where we hupotaso, where we subject ourselves to that relationship for their good, for their benefit, even at the risk of our harm, we don't revile, we don't utter threats, because we've died to that stuff, right?

We've died to that life. And we're living to righteousness. To this you were called, that you might follow his example. This is all over 1 Peter. Now that's sensitive stuff, because some of you are thinking, "Well you don't know what that guy did to me. You don't know what she did to me." If you only knew.

I know. I went to 12 elementary schools because I met the wrong father that God ordained in his kindness into my life. Now I love him. We have a great relationship. It only took 40 years. God orchestrates things. Every person in your life is a divine appointment. It's a cliche, but that's the case.

Now, I couldn't help but to think of the thieves on the crosses. We usually hear them in the singular. But I see them as thieves on the crosses. Alright, plural. So here we go. "They crucified two robbers with him," Mark's account, "one on his right, one on his left, and the Scripture was fulfilled, which says, 'He was numbered with transgressors, and those passing by were hurling abuse at him, wagging their heads and saying, 'Ha!

You who are going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days.'" That's a little too dramatic. I'm sorry. "Three days. 'Save yourself and come down from the cross.' In the same way, the chief priests also, along with the scribes, were mocking him among themselves and saying, 'He saved others.

He cannot save himself.'" That sounded a little Disney. I'm sorry. "Let this Christ, the King of Israel, now come down from the cross so that we may see and believe. And those who were crucified him were also insulted." I'm like, "You losers." Look at you. Right? I'm like, "Look at you." "Both of them were hurling insults at him along with everybody." Matthew's account.

"In the same way, the chief priests also, along with the scribes and elders, were mocking him and saying, 'He saved others. He cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel. Let him come down now from the cross and we will believe him. He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he delights in him.

For he said, 'I am the Son of God.'" "The robbers who have been crucified with him were also insulting him with the same words." "He was oppressed and he was afflicted. Yet he did not open his mouth like a lamb that is led to the slaughter and like a sheep that is silent before its shearers.

He did not open his mouth." Jesus opens his mouth twice, actually, in this whole Passion Week exchange. One of them is when they say, "Are you the King of the Jews?" And he said, "I am." The other one is here. "When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him and the criminals, one on the right and one on the left.

But Jesus was saying, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.' And they cast lots, dividing up his garments among themselves. And the people stood by, looking on, and even the rulers were sneering at him, saying, 'He saved others. Let him save himself, if this is the Christ of God, his chosen one.' The soldiers also mocked him, coming up to him, offering him sour wine and saying, 'If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.' Now there was also an inscription above him, 'This is the King of the Jews.' One of the criminals who were hanging there and was hurling abuse at him, saying, 'Are you not the Christ?

Save yourself and us.' But the other answered, rebuking him, said, 'Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds, but this man has done nothing wrong. And he was saying, 'Jesus, remember me when you come in your kingdom.' And he said to him, 'Truly I say to you, today you shall be with me in paradise.' I am left to my sanctified imagination, wondering when this change happened.

Did you ever think about that? When did this switch happen, where all of a sudden this guy is laughing and scoffing at this Christ, and then all of a sudden he says, 'This is an innocent man.' And I want to guess that it had happened when this man, who did not revile in return, when he was threatened, or when he was suffering, he uttered no threats, but he kept entrusting himself to the judge who judges righteously.

And that overhearing of that entrusting, perhaps this thief changed. Are you guys following this? I'm going to go back to this thing. The hoop of Graham on, following in his steps. It seems to me, by what's said right before this, and by what's said right after this, there is a possibility that you suffering unjustly can cause a miracle to happen in the name of Christ.

And as you abide in him and subject yourself to suffering, perhaps he does a miraculous fruit and uses that to change this person so that in the day of visitation, this man, who once was a reviler, gives glory to the God. And that's what I'm led to believe when I'm looking through 1 Peter.

Why are we called to suffer? Just to show that, yes, we are suffering for the sake of, to give glory. How does that give glory to God? You know what the world does not have an answer for? Joy in the midst of suffering. Love in the midst of hate.

Forgiveness in the midst of wrong. The world does not have an answer to that. And that demolishes strongholds. So when you guys think of avoiding the people that are difficult in your life, if it's your shame, shame on you. You fix that. But if someone is hurting you, it doesn't mean you go take abuse.

But even if you have to subject yourself to love this person who is so unlovable, knowing what's going to happen, who knows? You might win them over. And that person, without you saying a word, might give glory to God. And that's what I see. But our problem is, anytime they're suffering, we want to run away.

For to this you were called. For you were called for this very purpose. Because you will inherit a blessing, 1 Peter 3.9. Every person in your life is on purpose. If you are the sinner, fix it. But if you are the victim, forgive. And we'll see what God does.

Does that make sense? This is a strong passage. That's very painful. Thank you, TJ. I like that. Oh yeah. Right? This is for next week. Everything is the same except the last one. What are the goals for the wives and for the husbands in applying these verses? We know what we're supposed to do.

Husbands, be considerate with your wives. Wives, be subject to your husband. But pay attention to the why. Why? What's the goal? And then today, what I want you guys to do is look through this. In what relationships currently are you tempted to revile or utter threats? This is in the case where you're the victim.

What are those relationships and what role do you play? Second, in what ways has this passage grown your appreciation of Christ? How do you follow in his steps? And then third, this is not humanly, fleshly, like possible for us to just do in our flesh, right? But are there ways that your group members can pray for you as you entrust yourself to him who judges righteously?

How? So this is a very meaty passage. It's very powerful and very scary. So my encouragement would be, share with each other and keep each other accountable. Pray for each other and keep praying for each other. Okay? So next week we're going to be looking at husbands, wives, so that should be fun.

Let me pray for us and then we'll break up into a time of sharing and discussion. Lord, people stink and we're surrounded by them and we are them. But you love us. You know our frame. You know our weakness. And as far as the east is from the west, you have removed our sins from us.

Though you understand that we are but dust, in your strange and great mercy, you choose to love us and offer a way where we're even elevated as co-heirs. In our momentary affliction, in our grief, in our struggle, help us to remember the big picture. That you are going to come back to restore everything.

But help us to use every relationship in our lives that you have ordained to give you glory. Especially the ones that are tough. Help us to use those relationships to give you glory. And that in those relationships to be a message of the gospel. Help us, Lord God, because this is not something we can do by effort.

This is only something that can be supernaturally done by those who are abiding in Christ. So keep us committed to what you've called us. Keep us sober to what your will is for the Christian. And would you receive the glory that you're due by our response of trust and faith.

For we trust that you judge righteously. And we thank you, Lord God, for judging us with compassion and mercy. And not treating us as our sins deserve. For really loving us and embracing us as we are. So that we can be restored to you. That we can know you and be known by you.

Jesus, let me pray. The previous one, right? It's going to be on the Facebook, TJ.