Sermon Tone Analysis

Keeping Our Commitment to Christ

1 Peter 2:18-25

Sermon by Rick Crandall

Grayson Baptist Church - Dec. 30, 2012

*On February 23, 1836, General Santa Anna's Mexican army arrived in San Antonio to begin the 13-day battle for the Alamo.

The commander of the Alamo was Colonel William Travis.

Legend has it that on the 8th day, Colonel Travis drew a line on the ground and asked any man willing to stay and fight to step over.

All of them did but one.

(1)

*That story may be a legend, but in these verses God surely calls us to cross over the line with Jesus.

-- How can we keep our commitment to Christ?

1. First, we should follow the steps of our Savior.

*In vs. 18-22, the Apostle Peter calls us to follow the Lord.

Here Peter said:

18. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.

19.

For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.

20.

For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?

But when you do good and suffer for it, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.

21.

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

*Christians: We are called by God to follow the steps of our Savior, getting close to Jesus and staying close to Jesus.

[1] Notice that following the steps of our Savior means practical, everyday service.

*In vs. 18, Peter talks about how Christian servants should serve their masters.

This reminds us that Christian service is not just something we do on Sundays and Wednesdays.

It’s not just something we do in these buildings.

Christian service should touch our lives 24/7.

It should definitely touch the way we act at work, at home and at play.

*Steve Brown tells a story that comes down to us from the 11th century.

King Henry III of Bavaria grew tired of court life and the pressures of being king.

For this reason he applied to the local monastery, and asked to spend the rest of his life there as a secluded monk.

*The head of the monastery was a wise man named Richard, and he said to the king: “Your Majesty, do you understand that the pledge here is one of obedience?

-- That will be hard because you have been a king.”

*“I understand,” said King Henry.

“The rest of my life I will be obedient to you, as Christ leads you.”

“Then I will tell you what to do,” said Richard.

“Go back to your throne and serve faithfully in the place where God has put you.” (2)

*King Henry did exactly that, and so should we.

God has planted us here, and He wants us to be a good teacher, truck driver, grandparent or whatever.

-Following the steps of our Savior means practical, everyday service right where the Lord has placed us.

[2] But following the steps of our Savior also means patient service.

*This is Peter’s message to us in vs. 18-20, where he said:

18. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh.

19.

For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.

20.

For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?

But when you do good and suffer for it, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.

*Servants submit yourselves to your masters, not only to the good and gentle ones, but also to the harsh, overbearing and unreasonable masters.

*Have you ever had a bad boss?

-- For several years, author Jim Miller sponsored a national hunt for the worst boss.

One entry was called “Horrible Hilda.”

One of Hilda’s employees was just getting over heart surgery, when she made him carry a 20-pound bag of cat litter up some steep stairs.

*And there's this front-runner: The boss who called the hospital on the day a worker was scheduled for major surgery.

This boss told the employee to get his clothes on and come back to the office right away!

He was screaming and throwing such a fit over the phone that the nurse hung up on him.

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*As Christians, how should we handle things like that?

-- I’d highly recommend praying for a new job!

And start looking for one too.

*But as long as you are in that situation, God says to be patient.

20.

For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?

But when you do good and suffer for it, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.

-Following the steps of our Savior means patient service.

[3] But it also means pleasing service.

*This is another point Peter makes to us in vs. 19-20, where he said:

19.

For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully.

20.

For what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently?

But when you do good and suffer for it, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God.

*The wonderful news here is that we can live lives that are pleasing to God! -- We can be the servants Jesus talked about in Matthew 25:21, where He said: “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.

Enter into the joy of your lord.”

-Following the steps of our Savior means pleasing service.

[4] And it means pure service.

*This is one of Peter’s points to us in vs. 21-22, where the Apostle said:

21.

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

22. “Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth.”

*The Last part of vs. 22 refers back to Isaiah 53, where the prophet described our Suffering Savior.

Here’s part of what Isaiah said:

8.

He was taken from prison and from judgment, and who will declare His generation?

For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgressions of My people He was stricken.

9.

And they made His grave with the wicked but with the rich at His death, because He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

*In these verses Peter and Isaiah are reminding us of the Lord’s perfect purity.

And the Lord’s perfect holiness was an absolute requirement for the cross.

Jesus couldn’t die for our sins, if He had to die for His own.

*But Jesus did die for our sins!

-- So Isaiah went on to say:

10.

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief.

When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand.

11.

He shall see the travail of His soul, and be satisfied.

by His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities.

(Isaiah 53:10-11)

*Christians, when Jesus died on the cross for us, He carried our sins away as far as the east is from the west.

And He could do this because of His pure and holy life.

Now, God calls us to serve the Lord with a pure life.

As Peter tells us in vs. 21-22, Jesus left us an example that we should follow the steps of Him “who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth.”

*Following the steps of our Savior then means a life of practical, patient, pleasing and pure service to our Lord.

We can keep our commitment to Christ by following the steps of our Savior.

2. But we should also be willing to suffer like our Savior.

*This is a very personal and painful truth Peter shares with us in vs. 21-23.

Please notice the Lord’s suffering and our suffering in these verses:

21.

For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:

22. "Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth'';

23.

who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.

*Peter will talk about our suffering for the Lord again in chapter 4.

This was something always close to Peter’s heart.

In 2 Peter 1:14 he urged believers to grow in godliness and love, knowing, he said, “that shortly I must put off my tent, just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me.”