We'll only get to a few things, but God I just pray that you would help us understand this great truth that could revolutionize our lives.
And in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Boy, the term Christian is a term that is very common in the day that we live. We hear it all the time, Christian.
You see there's a Christian bookstore and many churches are called such and such the Christian church.
We as believers in Jesus Christ, we as Baptists, we call ourselves Christians.
And the term Christian is a term that's used very frequently and everybody around the world knows the word Christian.
But it's interesting, the word Christian is only found three times in the entire Bible.
And I want to talk to you this morning about what is a Christian. That's the title of my sermon, What is a Christian?
Look if you would at Acts chapter 11 verse 26. I'm going to show you the three times that the word Christian appears in the Bible.
And we're going to look at a lot of Bible this morning.
Especially in the book of 1 Peter, so you might want to just kind of keep your finger on 1 Peter.
But Acts chapter 11, 26, let me get there.
This is the first time the word Christian is used in the Bible. The Bible reads here,
And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch.
And it came to pass that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church and taught much people.
And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
So the disciples in Antioch, this is the first time that the term Christian had ever been used.
The people around them in the city there, they called the disciples, they called those who believed on Jesus Christ, who were meeting together in this church.
They said those are Christians. That's what they called them.
Now if you would, look at Acts chapter 26.
Same book of the Bible, Acts chapter 26. I'm going to show you the next time the word Christian is used, Acts 26, 28.
The Bible reads in Acts 26, 28,
Then Agrippa said unto Paul, we'll look at verse 27, it says,
King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets?
Now, let me just give you the story a little bit.
Paul is preaching before this man, King Agrippa.
He was brought before King Agrippa to explain himself to King Agrippa.
He was being sent to jail. He was being arrested for preaching.
King Agrippa was going to send him on to Caesar because he'd appealed to Caesar.
And King Agrippa just didn't really know, and Felix didn't really know, what are we accusing this guy of?
Because they're Romans and so they didn't really understand the Jewish law.
And they, to be honest with you, they just could not understand what Paul had done wrong.
Because in reality he hadn't done anything wrong.
But the Jews were so insistent on prosecuting him and they wanted him killed for what he was doing.
So King Agrippa, being an expert in the traditions of the Jews, and being the man who was deputed of Caesar to be in charge of that area,
he said, well, why don't I sit down and listen to what he has to say and figure out what we tell Caesar when we send him to Caesar?
Because once somebody appealed to Caesar, he had to go to Caesar.
So Paul is supposed to explain to him what he believes and what he's being accused of.
Well, Paul just preaches this great sermon. And read this chapter sometime, Acts 26.
Paul just preaches this powerful sermon.
And you can feel the emotion in this sermon when he gets to the end of just preaching on Jesus Christ and salvation.
And he says, King Agrippa, believeth thou the prophets, I know that thou believeth.
I mean, this is how he ends the sermon.
He says, I know you believeth. I know you know that this is what the Bible says.
You can just feel the emotion of him saying, please, will you get saved?
See, he doesn't care about defending himself. He doesn't care whether he goes to jail.
He's trying to get the guy saved who's going to send him to jail, who's going to send him to Caesar, possibly to his death.
And look at what Agrippa says.
Then Agrippa said unto Paul, almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.
He said, man, I am this close to getting saved. Isn't that something?
And Paul said, I would to God that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day,
were both almost and altogether such as I am, except these bombs.
Well, that's the second time that the word Christians use. Let me show you the third time.
And this is the final time that it's used in the Bible.
1 Peter, chapter 4, verse 16. We just read it.
1 Peter, chapter 4, verse 16.
And the Bible reads here, yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf.
So the first time it was mentioned, somebody was looking at the way somebody else lived and what they did and said, that's a Christian.
Agrippa looked at Paul and said, you know, you've almost convinced me to be a Christian.
You've almost persuaded me to be a Christian. And what did Paul turn around and say?
He said, I would that both, not just you, but everybody who hears me here today was like I am.
That's what he said, except for this chain, except not in jail.
He said, I wish you were just like me, except without these handcuffs.
So the point is, what is a Christian?
It says in 1 Peter, chapter 4, and the whole book of 1 Peter is about this subject.
It's about the sufferings of Jesus Christ and our sufferings as believers.
That's what the whole book of 1 Peter is about.
And we see throughout the book of 1 Peter, especially chapters 2, 3, and 4, what I'm going to show you,
that being a Christian is being like Jesus Christ.
That's what being a Christian is. That's what Christian means.
It means you're like Jesus Christ.
And in this, most notably, in chapter number 2, look if you would at verse number 21.
This is the key verse.
For even hereunto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example that ye should follow in his steps.
You see, that is what Christianity is.
Christianity is following in the steps of Jesus Christ. That's what it is.
It says here that he left us an example that we should follow in his steps,
but look at what it's talking about, because Christ also suffered for us.
That's the example that he left for us.
You see, keeping the rules of Christianity, sometimes we think of Christianity,
we think of living the Christian life as just obeying what the Bible says,
just keeping a bunch of rules that church gives us and doing certain things that we're supposed to do.
For example, I've heard many preachers say, there's just five things you have to do.
I've heard a lot of preachers say, if you just do these five things,
this is how you could be a good Christian, if you do all five of these things.
Number one, read your Bible every day.
Number two, pray every day.
Number three, go to church every time the doors are open, Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night.
Number four, pay your tithe.
And number five is... I don't even know what number five is.
Soul winning. That's what a good Christian is.
Five is win people to Christ.
Now look, those five basic things, that's like the kindergarten of Christianity.
That's not Christianity. Those five things are just the kindergarten.
I mean, that's just to get started.
And a lot of times we look at all the rules that church teaches, that preachers preach on,
that the Bible says, the Ten Commandments, for example,
all these different commandments that God gives,
and we somehow think that if we keep all the rules,
and if we look right and dress right and act right,
that we are somehow a Christian and we have just arrived.
We think that because we've just kept the main...
For example, these are the things that we think of,
just the common things we think of.
I don't drink alcohol.
I don't smoke.
I don't go to the movies.
I don't go gambling.
I've gotten rid of the pants, if you're a woman.
I dress in modest clothing.
I've got rid of the low cut and all the tight fitting kind of clothes
and the slit all the way up to a man's imagination.
And I've got rid of all my rock music CDs,
and I've got rid of all the country western Garth Brooks CDs.
And by the way, let me just put in right here,
I'm so sick and tired of preachers who preach against rock music,
but they won't preach against country music.
Yes, country music.
Garth Brooks and these country singers...
I don't even know if Garth Brooks is still around to be honest with you,
but that guy is as wicked as the devil.
And you know what I hate about country music?
I hate about it.
I hate the fact that they will bring Jesus Christ into their music
and blaspheme Jesus Christ in their music.
There are songs by Garth Brooks where he's talking about Jesus and God.
You say, oh, it's Christian music.
It's not Christian music.
It's a blasphemy for him to get up and sing about Jesus Christ.
And then the next song he sings is
I've got friends in low places
where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away
and I'll be okay.
Hey, that's wicked as hell.
The most famous song when I was a kid was The Thunder Rolls.
It's all about a woman committing adultery on her husband.
Is that what you want to listen to?
And country music is always ungodly.
It's always making a mockery of Jesus Christ.
It's always these ungodly whores and whoremongers
with their beer and their whiskey and wild, wild women.
And then they get up and sing about,
oh, I just love going to church back in old Kentucky and all this stupid stuff.
And they say, oh, man, you know, Jesus Christ.
And they sing about this stuff and it makes me mad.
It makes me irritated when somebody claims that they're Christian
and then they get up and they sing about beer,
they sing about women, they sing about adultery,
they sing about everything that's ungodly.
And by the way, as far as just musically,
country music is the same as rock music today.
All it is is some hillbilly singing rock music.
It's some backwoods boy getting up and singing rock music.
That's all it is.
And so I draw no distinction between rock music, country music,
rap music, hip-hop music, anything.
Anything that's produced by the world is wrong
because it's not glorifying to God.
It has nothing to do with Jesus Christ. It's wrong.
And when they throw in Jesus Christ, that makes me even more mad
because it's blasphemous in my mind to get up and sing a rock and roll song
and talk about Jesus and beer in the same sentence.
I heard a song the other day. I was working.
And I don't know what song this was.
This was the chorus of the song.
That's where I drank my first beer.
That's where I found Jesus in the same sentence of the song.
And I'm thinking to myself, what in the...what is this?
That makes me mad.
But a lot of times we'll fall into the trap as Christians
and we'll say, you know what?
What the pastor preaches, I live it, man.
I've gotten rid of the music. I've gotten rid of the DVDs.
I've gotten rid of the wrong clothing, you know,
and I don't drink and I don't smoke
and I do these classic sins that everybody thinks about
and I go to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night
and I go out once a week for 59 minutes and 59 seconds
and you say, I have a life.
I mean, I'm a Christian. I live right.
But what you don't understand is that that is not what Christianity is about.
It's not a list of do's and don'ts.
Now, our liberal friends at the New Evangelical churches, they'll say,
Christianity is not a list of do's and don'ts.
So then they'll get rid of the do's and don'ts
and just say, it's just all about the love.
Well, look at Matthew 23, 23. I want to show you this.
And bear with me during the introduction here
because I'm building a foundation and then I'm going to show you
what the message is really about.
But I'm building this foundation because I'm trying to get you to understand
the basic concept before I get into the sermon.
Look at Matthew 23 and verse number 23.
Let me get there myself here in my new Bible.
It says right here, woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,
for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin
and have omitted the weightier matters of the law,
judgment, mercy, and faith.
These ought ye to have done and not to leave the other undone.
You see, what he's saying is, look, tithing on the parsley and the mint,
he's talking about herbs.
He's talking about these people were so hardcore about obeying God's laws
that they not only just tithed on their paycheck,
they tithed on everything that came to them.
If somebody handed them a little jar of cumin, they tithed on that.
This is the tiniest thing. God's listening to the tiniest things.
He said these people tithed on everything that came into their hand
that they got from God, that somebody gave them or that they earned.
And notice what he says.
He says, but you've forgotten the weightier matters of the law.
He says the weightier matters of the law are not just the dos and the don'ts,
but the spiritual side of things, mercy, judgment, and faith.
But notice, he says you were right when you tithed on the mint, anise, and cumin.
You were right when you followed every single verse of the Bible to the T
and you crossed every T and dotted every I.
He says you were right when you did that.
He says these things you ought to have done, but not to have left the other undone.
And so God's saying, look, yes, the dos and the don'ts.
Don't throw out the list of dos and don'ts.
That's a lot of what Christianity's about.
But he says there's something that's weightier.
There's something that's more important than that.
Not to throw out the other, but to get to the more important.
Now look, do you start out with the hardest thing of Christianity?
It makes sense that you would start with something that's easy.
Let me ask you something. What's easier?
What's easier?
Getting a haircut as a man and going and getting my tapered haircut and my short haircut
so that I look like a man and I don't look like a queer little sissy.
What's easier, doing that or being on my face and praying for an hour?
Prayer is a lot harder than getting a haircut.
I mean, what's harder as a woman?
Getting rid of the pants and dressing like a woman
or reading your Bible every single day consistently.
I mean, what's harder?
So the spiritual aspect of Christianity is always going to be the harder part
and these dos and don'ts are always going to be the easy part.
So God is saying, look, do the easy stuff.
Get into the kindergarten of Christianity by getting rid of the liquor and the videos and all that stuff.
But then he says, grow up and mature into the real Christianity.
That's what I'm going to show you today.
Point number one, look at 1 Peter chapter 2.
We're going to spend the rest of the sermon in 1 Peter.
1 Peter chapter 2.
What does it really mean to be a Christian?
I mean, is it just somebody who goes to church and dresses right and looks right and smells right and acts right and talks right?
Or is it something else?
What does it mean to follow in the example of Christ and be a Christian, to be like Jesus Christ?
Well, I'm going to show you the three ways that I think are the most paramount ways that you can be like Jesus Christ,
that you can be a great Christian.
What is Christianity? I'll tell you what it is.
These three things that are just highlighted over and over in 1 Peter.
Number one, the most important way of being a Christian is suffering wrongfully.
That's the number one point.
That's the most important way that you can be like Jesus Christ.
You say, but that doesn't have anything to do with getting rid of rock music.
No, look, suffering wrongfully is the whole point of the cross.
That's the whole point of what Jesus did.
Look if you would at 1 Peter 2.19.
It says, for this is thank worthy if a man for conscience toward God endured grief, suffering wrongfully.
For what glory is it if when you're buffeted for your faults you take it patiently.
But if, when you do well and suffer for it, you take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
For even here unto were ye called, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps, who did no sin.
Neither was guile found in his mouth, who when he was reviled, reviled not again.
When he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously,
who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree,
that we being dead to sin should live unto righteousness by whose stripes you were healed.
You see, suffering wrongfully is what God talks about in the context of being a Christian.
See, the book of 1 Peter is explaining to us what a Christian is.
The term was thrown around twice in the book of Acts.
It was used, but this is where it's defined in the book of 1 Peter,
where God says if you want to be a Christian, if you want to be like Jesus Christ,
you know, you see the bracelets that say, what would Jesus do?
W.W.J.D. And I'll tell you what he would do.
The first thing he'd do is he'd get rid of what most people are wearing that are wearing the W.W.J.D.
I've seen, you know, girls in a halter top and short shorts with the W.W.J.D.
That was when I was in Christian school, you know.
We had a Christian school car wash, and they're wearing that, and they've got the bracelets, W.W.J.D.
The first thing Jesus would do is he would dress right, but that's just the kindergarten.
What would Jesus really do? It says right here,
Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow in his steps.
He said Jesus Christ suffered wrongfully.
If you want to be like Jesus, you must suffer wrongfully.
I'm talking about when you do something right, and you're attacked for it.
I'm talking about when you don't do anything wrong, and somebody criticizes you,
and I'm talking about on the job when you get in trouble for something that you didn't do.
I'm talking about in your family when you get in trouble for something that you didn't do.
I'm talking about suffering wrongfully.
Think about the cross. Think about what Jesus Christ did on the cross.
And this is what it is. It's Christianity. It's being like Jesus.
Here's Jesus, never sinned one time.
And the Bible says that he was taken, and that first thing they did, they beat him 39 times with a whip.
And the Bible says he never opened his mouth.
He never said, who do you think you are to treat me like this?
Who do you think you are? I'm the Son of God.
Who do you think you are hitting me with a whip?
No. He just took it. He just took it wrongfully.
He didn't deserve it. But here he is. He allows them to beat him 39 times.
Every time that whip hit his body, he didn't say a word.
He was silent, the Bible says.
And they whipped him 39 times with that whip.
Then they took him, and by the way, every time he was hit with that whip, the Bible says it left a stripe.
That's the kind of impact that that whip made. A bloody stripe was left in its place.
Then they took Jesus, and they stripped him of all his clothes.
How humiliating. Can you imagine that? How humiliating.
They strip him down nude in front of a bunch of soldiers.
Then they put on him some purple decorative robe, and they put it on him.
And then they put a stick in his hand, and then they take a crown of thorns and shove it into his head.
And they started laughing at him and mocking him and bowing down to him.
Hail, king of the Jews! Hail, king of the Jews!
Then the Bible says that they spit in his face.
They spit in his face, and he just took it wrongfully.
Does this sound like your life?
I don't think any of us have come to that place where people are bowing down at us, laughing at us, spitting in our face, physically abusing us.
Then they took him, the Bible says, and they put a bag over his head.
And they would just punch him in the face and say, who hit you?
God. You know everything, right?
Who hit you? Who just punched you?
You're a liar! You're a fake! You're a phony! You are fake!
And he didn't say anything. He just took it.
And then the Bible says that they took that stick out of his hand, and they just slammed it into the side of his head.
Then they took him, they changed him out of those clothes, stripped him down again, and they put his old clothes back on him.
And then they put that cross on him.
I was thinking about this. My wife was doing her little building project with all the lumber and everything.
And boy, just carrying some of that, I was carrying some of those big 4x4s.
And just thinking to myself, good night, because this is a lot smaller than what a cross would be made out of.
As soon as I put it on my shoulder, immediately I just thought of Jesus carrying the cross.
I was just thinking about just the splinters involved. I was just thinking about this heavy wood.
The Bible says that he was carrying the cross, and he couldn't even physically do it.
He couldn't even physically carry the cross.
And the Bible says that they had to actually get a man named Simon.
They had to compel him. They forced this man, Simon, to carry Jesus' cross for him.
And he had to carry that cross up the hill for Jesus, because Jesus just had no more strength.
And when they got to the top, of course, they laid him on that cross.
He ran nails through his hands and through his feet into the cross.
And then they erected that cross, and here he is hanging on the cross.
The Bible says he's despised. That means hated. He's rejected.
He says that we hid as if it were our faces from him.
And this man on the cross, what's he going to say?
When he opens his mouth, he's about to talk, what's he going to say?
Is he going to say, boy, I can't wait a couple thousand years from now.
I'm going to come back, and I'm going to clean house, and then we'll see who's laughing.
Is that what he said? No.
He's hanging on that cross. He's been abused. He's been beaten.
And there's the Roman centurion standing at his feet at the cross, and he says,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
Can you imagine that? Can you imagine a man who's been beaten, mocked, hated,
nothing good done, but just spat upon and abused, and he just says,
Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.
And maybe that's why, a few moments later, when the darkness came and when the thunder came,
and the Roman centurion said, truly, this was the Son of God.
Because no man could be that kind of meekness and that kind of humility
and that kind of just love for people.
The Bible says he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.
You think of Stephen. Here's another man in the Bible, one of my favorite Bible characters.
Turn, if you would, leave your finger in 1 Peter 3, but look, if you would, to Acts 7.
In Acts chapter number 7, and while you're turning to Acts chapter 7, and turn to verse number 51,
and I'm going to read for you the first few verses here of the chapter.
At the end of chapter 6, it says, actually, yeah, look at chapter 6, verse 14.
It says, for we have heard him say, they're accusing Stephen right now,
for we've heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place
and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us.
And then all that sat on the council, looking steadfastly on him,
saw his face as it had been the face of an angel.
Then said the high priest, are these things so?
And he said, men, brethren and fathers, hearken.
So here's Stephen, a great man, a man full of the Holy Ghost and of faith, the Bible says.
A great preacher, he's preaching all over and just seeing tons of people saved.
And people get angry, they arrest him, they lie about him, and they look at his face.
The Bible says they saw his face like the face of an angel.
And the high priest says to him, this is in the courtroom, he says, are these things so?
In verse number 2, he begins to preach this great sermon
where he starts out at the beginning with Abraham,
and he preaches all the way up through King David.
Great synopsis of the Old Testament, phenomenal sermon that he preaches
all the way from Abraham to David, he goes through this.
And it's not really a confrontational type sermon, he's just preaching the history.
And he's kind of illustrating the fact that the Jews have always kind of rejected the truth,
they rejected God.
But he's just preaching an overview of the Old Testament,
very non-confrontational, just very informational.
But then look what he says in verse 51.
All of a sudden he just changes gears in the middle of this sermon.
He says, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you do always resist the Holy Ghost.
As your fathers did, so do ye.
Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted?
And they have slain them which showed before of the coming of the just one,
of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers,
who have received the law by the disposition of angels and have not kept it.
When they heard these things, the Bible says, they were cut to the heart,
and they gnashed on him with their teeth.
But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven,
and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,
and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened,
and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God.
Then they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears,
and ran upon him with one accord, and cast him out of the city and stoned him.
And the witnesses laid down their feet,
I mean they laid down their clothes at a young man's feet whose name was Saul,
and they stoned Stephen, calling upon God and saying,
Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.
Well let me point out, notice how it says calling upon God and saying,
Lord Jesus, of course Jesus is God,
every modern Bible takes out the phrase God there.
And saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,
and he kneeled down and cried with a loud voice,
what's he going to say?
What's he going to say?
Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.
And when he had said this, he fell asleep.
See, here's a Christian right here, that's the first Christian in the Bible.
There's a man who said, I'm going to follow the example that Jesus laid down,
when I'm being hated and persecuted and screamed at and thrown out of town,
people are throwing rocks at me until I'm dead,
he's on his knees about to give up his last breath,
and he says, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge, and he fell asleep.
See, that's Christianity, my friend, when you suffer wrongfully like Jesus Christ,
and you don't revile.
Jesus, when he was reviled, when he was mocked, he didn't revile again, the Bible says.
He didn't mouth out back to them.
He committed himself to him that judges righteously.
Look at 1 Peter 2 again, if you're still there, I hope you still have your finger there.
It says in 1 Peter 2, verse 12,
having your conversation honest among the Gentiles,
whereas they speak against you as evildoers,
they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Look at chapter 3, verse 13.
And who is he that will harm you if you be followers of that which is good?
But, and if ye suffer for righteousness' sake, happy are ye,
and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled,
but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts,
and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear.
Having a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers,
they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.
For it is better if the will of God be so that you suffer for well-doing than for evildoing.
For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust.
You see, we must as Christians not be retaliatory.
When someone attacks us, it's not our job to turn around and attack them back.
It's not our job to hate somebody that does us wrong.
When somebody does us wrong, we're supposed to be like Jesus Christ.
This is Christianity.
It's to be like Jesus Christ and say,
God, would you forgive them? Would you not lay that sin to their charge they did against me?
Would you please just forgive them and be good to them?
And if they're not saved, God, I pray that they get saved.
Would you please bless them, dear God, who did wrong to me
and help me to be kind and loving to them that did wrong to me?
That's Christianity.
And let me tell you something, that's a lot harder.
That's a lot harder than keeping some list of rules in some list somewhere.
And I'm all for the rules.
If you've been in this church for any amount of time, obviously you know that I preach all the rules.
I'm against everything.
If you're not sure I'm against something, I am.
I'm against it.
But that's not Christianity.
Christianity is when you take it to the next level and say,
I'm going to let somebody abuse me and criticize me and think evil of me,
and I'm going to take it, and I'm not going to fight back.
I'm just going to allow myself to be attacked.
See, that's Christianity.
But we always feel the need to,
boy, I'm going to get him back.
I'm going to make sure that everybody knows that I wasn't really guilty.
I'm going to make sure that everybody knows that it wasn't my fault.
I'm going to make sure everybody knows it was their fault, because that's just not fair.
You know what's not fair?
What's not fair is that Jesus died on the cross for your sins.
That's not fair.
What's not fair is that he was bruised for our transgressions.
That's what's not fair.
What's not fair is that he went to hell for your sins.
Glory to God that life isn't fair.
I'm glad life's not fair or else I'd be going to hell if life was fair.
And so we can't have this idea where it's just the principle of the matter.
It's just not fair.
I just have to get back because it's just the principle.
No, the principle is be like Jesus Christ and suffer wrongfully,
and then God will say, I'm pleased with that.
That's acceptable to me.
You're a Christian.
Look at chapter number 4 of 1 Peter.
Find the same thing in verse number 12.
Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial,
which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you,
but rejoice inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ's sufferings.
And on and on, we already read this, but it goes on and on about how, again,
just being evil spoken of, being approached, being abused,
and it says if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed,
but let him glorify God on this behalf.
So number 1, suffering wrongfully is the best way to be a Christian.
And when you didn't do anything wrong,
and you have to suffer and be punished for nothing,
that's Christianity, number 1.
But number 2, and this is something that it's kind of interesting how this is,
and the book of 1 Peter is so deep,
but in chapters 2, 3, and 4, you'll see interwoven,
two different concepts in all three chapters.
Two different concepts are kind of,
it's like he goes back and forth between talking about the two.
He talks about, number 1, suffering wrongfully,
and then he talks about, number 2, obeying authority.
Obeying authority.
These are the two that he goes back and forth between the two.
It's like this, he talks about one, he talks about the other,
because these two things go hand in hand.
Look, if you would, at verse number 13 of chapter number 2 of 1 Peter.
The Bible says, submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake.
That means obey every rule that's made by people who are over you in authority.
He says, whether it be to the king as supreme, talking about a political leader,
or unto governors as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers,
and for the praise of them that do well.
For so is the will of God that with well-doing you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.
You see, the other way to be like Jesus Christ is total submission to authority.
You see, when Jesus was on this earth, he allowed them to...
He didn't mouth off to these authority figures that he had.
Were they right? Was Pontius Pilate right? Was the high priest right?
Was that Roman soldier right? No, but he just said, you know what?
I'm going to submit to authority.
His ultimate authority was God the Father.
He said, I do always those things. Would you please him?
And see, submitting to authority is another way to be like Jesus Christ.
What does this have to do with suffering wrongfully?
Well, sometimes authorities just aren't fair.
I mean, good night. Look at the country we live in.
Do you think this country is about justice? No.
But we must submit and suffer wrongfully many times at the hands of our unjust government.
Or we must suffer wrongfully at the hands of an unjust parent, perhaps.
Or an unjust husband, or an unjust boss at work.
Because we must submit to authority and suffer wrongfully if we're going to be like Jesus Christ.
Look, if you would, at Romans 13.
Keep your finger again at 1 Peter and turn to Romans 13.
You'll find the exact wording that we just saw in 1 Peter chapter 2 in Romans 13.
Now, this that I'm preaching right now on this second point here, and especially from Romans chapter 13,
this has all but fallen off the face of the earth, this concept.
This is the concept, God's concept of authority.
God's concept of authority, which a lot of people don't believe anymore and they definitely don't practice anymore,
is that there's a divine chain of command.
God has placed certain powers in this world, and God placed every single one of them.
Because look at verse number 1 of chapter 13.
Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.
For there is no power but of God.
The powers that be are ordained of God.
So look, Bill Clinton was ordained by God.
George W. Bush is ordained by God.
Saddam Hussein was ordained by God.
Every power in this world is ordained by God.
My mom and dad were ordained by God.
Your mom and dad were ordained by God.
Your husband is ordained by God.
Your father, your mother is ordained by God.
Your boss at work is ordained by God.
You say, that's ridiculous.
My mom and dad are this and that.
My husband is that.
They are ordained by God as authority figures in your life.
You say, Bill Clinton is a whore monger and a pervert and a weirdo.
He is ordained by God when he was the President of the United States.
God put him into power.
God says, I raise up one and take down another.
And maybe that's just what the United States of America deserved, that kind of a leader,
because that's the way this country is perverted wrong.
But look what it says here.
Let every soul be subject to the higher powers.
You see, the ultimate authority is God.
Then God has given us earthly authorities in our life that he has ordained underneath God.
Now, you always go with the higher power.
So you're supposed to obey every ordinance of man, the Bible says,
unless it conflicts with God, because then you go with the higher power.
You see, you always go to the higher power, but you're supposed to obey all authority
if you want to be like Jesus Christ.
Look at verse number two.
Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power.
That's talking about disobeying your husband, ladies.
That's talking about disobeying your mom and dad, kids.
That's talking about disobeying your boss at work, employee.
That's talking about disobeying the laws of the land.
Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God.
You say, that is a stupid rule at work.
I'm not going to follow that rule.
I remember when I worked at Liberty Bell Alarm in Sacramento.
There was a rule to tuck your shirt in.
I was literally the only person in the company to tuck my shirt in of the employees.
Nobody tucked their shirt in.
Because it was hot in the summertime and everybody was wearing shorts and everything.
So they'd just wear their shirt tail untucked.
And there was about 50 guys.
And I remember I got a raise after being there for a month and a half.
And the boss said, I like the way that you tuck in your shirt.
And he gave me a raise.
Because here's why.
He doesn't see me when I'm out in the field pulling wire.
He only saw me for 15 minutes every day is when he sees everybody, the owner of the company.
He sat down and had a meeting with us for 15 minutes.
All he sees is whether I show up on time.
All he sees is whether my shirt's tucked in.
All he sees is that I have a clean haircut.
That's all he saw.
And so he just said, you know what, I'm going to go ahead and give you a raise.
I'm going to put you in your own truck.
He said, I like the way that you show up on time and I like the way that you tuck your shirt in.
I remember one time, this is a funny story, but I remember one time we accidentally locked the keys in the house.
And I was coming out, I was going out the door to go to work.
And I was, you know, I only had, you know, 10 minutes to get there or whatever.
And it was right by my house where I worked.
And I hate being late.
And I remember we locked the keys in the house.
I literally kicked the door in of the apartment in my apartment complex.
I literally just went and kicked in the door.
It took two kicks and I kicked in the door.
And I went and got the keys and I was on time to work.
And because that's all that they see.
And you say, well that's it.
And I remember people say, that's a stupid rule, tuck your shirt in, whatever.
I kept my shirt tucked in because the Bible says to tuck my shirt in.
You say, what verse does the Bible say to tuck your shirt in?
Right here where it says, whosoever therefore resisted the power, resisted the ordinance of God.
Right here when it says there's no power but of God, the powers that be are ordained of God.
That's where the Bible told me to tuck in my shirt.
The Bible says obey the rules at work, even if nobody else obeys them.
Even if they're dumb little rules, just obey the rules at work.
And if you don't obey the rules at work, you're disobeying God.
If you don't obey mom and dad, you're disobeying God.
If you don't obey your husband, you're disobeying God.
If you don't obey your boss, you're disobeying God.
And see, that's hard, isn't it?
I mean, that's a hard thing.
Hey, it's hard to suffer wrongfully, it's hard to be a Christian, let's face it.
But that's what the Bible's talking about.
This is advanced Christianity 101.
Look back at Romans 13.
Look at verse number 3.
For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil.
Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power?
Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same.
He says if you obey authority, your authority will praise you and bless you.
Or you'll suffer wrongfully, and you can glorify God for that too.
And the Bible says, for he is the minister of God.
You say, wait a minute, I thought I'd go to church and the preacher, he's the minister of God.
No, your boss at work that you don't like is the minister of God.
That's God's minister.
Treat him like you would treat the pastor.
Treat him like you'd treat some man of God, the boss, at work.
Yes, your husband is the minister of God.
Yes, your father is the minister of God.
All authority figures.
The policeman that pulls you over when you're speeding.
He's the minister of God.
Oh man, that hurts.
I can't believe I just said that.
That must have been the spirit of God came upon me because I don't believe that.
He is the minister of God to thee for good.
But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid.
For he beareth not the sword and vein.
For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.
And it says here, wherefore you must needs be subject not only for wrath,
not only because you're going to get in trouble,
not only because you're going to get in trouble on the job,
not only because you're going to get in trouble by the policeman,
but he says, but for conscience sake, also for conscience sake.
For this cause pay ye tribute also.
He's saying, that's why you should pay your taxes.
For this cause pay ye tribute also.
For they are God's ministers.
Yes, at the DMV.
I can't understand that either.
There's some things that are not revealed in this life.
Yes, the Social Security Office is God's ministers.
God, what are you doing?
Attending contentedly upon this very thing.
Render therefore to all their dues.
Tribute to whom tribute is due.
That's the IRS.
Custom to whom custom.
Fear to whom fear.
Honor to whom honor.
We need to have a revival in this country,
we need to have a revival in our personal lives
of respect for authority.
Where we talk to the policeman and say, yes, sir.
Where we talk to our boss and say, yes, sir,
what do you want me to do?
What's your idea?
How do you want to do it?
Nah, that's a stupid idea.
I'm going to do it.
That's what he wants to do.
I'm not going to do it that way.
No, the boss is the minister of God.
We need to do what he says.
Look at the, well don't look at it,
but I don't want you to turn all over your Bible.
Turn back to 1 Peter,
and I'm just going to read this for you while you're turning.
The Bible says,
Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters,
according to the flesh,
with fear and trembling.
That's the way you should be toward your boss,
the Bible says.
With fear and trembling,
it says,
as unto Christ.
Treat your boss like he's Jesus Christ.
That's what it says.
Not with eye service as men pleasers.
That means you're doing it so that he can see
whenever he's around,
you do what he says,
but then as soon as he's gone,
you know,
not with eye service as men pleasers,
but as the servants of Christ,
doing the will of God from the heart,
with good will doing service as to the Lord,
and not to man.
That's the attitude at the job,
is to do service like you're serving the Lord,
like your boss is Jesus Christ.
You say,
my boss is,
he screws up,
no, your boss is Jesus Christ.
That's who your boss is.
Your boss is Jesus,
and when your boss says something,
Jesus is saying something to you,
and I believe that,
and most people don't believe that,
but that's fine.
That's what the Bible says.
It says,
knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth,
the same shall he receive of the Lord,
whether he be bond or free,
and this leads me to my third point.
Number one,
suffering wrongfully is how you can be a Christian.
That's what Christianity is.
That's the definition of the Bible word Christian.
A lot of people think just somebody who's saved is a Christian.
Look,
somebody who's saved does not mean that they're a Christian,
because there's a lot of people that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,
and thou shalt be saved,
but they don't live like Jesus Christ,
so they're not a Christian.
If you don't live like a Christian,
you're not a Christian.
If you don't live these three type things,
you're not a Christian.
You're saved.
You're born again.
You're a believer.
You're a child of God.
That doesn't mean that you're like Christ,
but this leads me to my third point.
Number one was that you suffer wrongfully like Jesus Christ.
Number two is that you obey authority.
Those two go hand in hand.
That's why they're all throughout those three chapters,
1 Peter 2-4.
And then number three is letting God take care of the outcome.
Let God handle it.
Let God balance the scales of justice when you're done wrong.
Let God handle it.
Not the ends justify the means.
Who cares what the outcome is?
Do what God said to do.
Who cares?
It doesn't matter.
You say,
well, what if I do that,
then this might happen.
You shouldn't even be thinking about that.
You're getting into God's territory
when you worry about outcomes.
I don't worry about outcomes at all.
I want to just try to only worry about what God told me to do.
And obviously nobody's perfect in any of these three.
Good night.
And I need to work on all three of these.
But the point is I try to train myself.
Who cares what the outcome is?
It doesn't matter.
Just what did God say to do?
I'm going to do it.
And that's how you be like Jesus Christ.
Let me read this for you again in Ephesians 6.
Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth,
the same shall he receive of the Lord,
whether he be bonded free.
He said,
if you do something good on the job,
if you get something done and you don't get rewarded for it,
God says,
hey, don't worry about it.
I'll pay you for that.
You say,
yeah, I got ripped off for an hour on my time clock.
No,
God says,
no you didn't.
God says,
I'll pay you.
I promise I'll pay you that.
Because whenever you work for the boss,
you're working for me.
And I always pay my employees,
is what God's saying.
Back to 1 Peter chapter number 2 and 3 on this point.
Look at chapter number 3 verse 1.
And you've got to remember,
as we're looking through all this,
that chapters 2,
3,
and 4,
and read this later and watch for this,
and you'll see what I'm saying,
how it goes back and forth between talking about submitting to authority,
suffering wrongfully,
let God take care of the outcome.
This is what Christianity is.
This is the example that Jesus left us.
And you'll see those things just on and on and on,
back and forth,
repeated over and over.
Look at verse number 1 of chapter 3.
Likewise you wives,
be in subjection to your own husbands,
that if any obey not the word,
they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.
So what's he saying here?
Again, submission to authority.
He's saying,
in the same way that you submit to the boss,
in the same way that you submit to the government,
he says,
wives,
be in subjection to your own husbands.
Why?
Why should you be in subjection to your husband?
And look, immediately he's bringing up a husband
that is not what he should be.
He's not saved, the Bible says.
And so it says,
that if any obey not the word,
he's saying,
he's heard the word of God preached,
he does not obey it.
They also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.
So is the wife supposed to preach to her husband?
And say,
let me,
I'm gonna,
this is what the Bible says that you need to do.
What are you doing drinking?
Put that beer away.
You're not supposed to be,
is that what it says?
No.
Notice the key word there.
Without the word.
Okay?
He says,
the wife is gonna do this without God's word.
He's saying,
she's not gonna use God's word?
No,
she's not.
Because it says right here,
that if any obey not the word,
this is a husband that doesn't want anything to do with the things of God.
He does not want to obey God.
They may,
that they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives.
Conversation means the way that they live their life.
It's not just what comes out of your mouth.
It's an older word.
And so God is saying,
look,
your husband will be won over to the things of God when he looks at the way that you live
your life.
Well,
you mean I need to,
I need to yell at him and say,
I'm going to leave you if you don't get rid of the drugs,
if you don't get rid of the beer and the pornography.
No,
live your life like a Christian and he will be won to God.
He'll be won to the things of God.
He'll be won to living like you live because he'll behold,
in verse number two,
he'll look at your chaste conversation coupled with fear.
He'll look at your chaste conversation.
Chase means pure.
It means he'll look at your pure,
holy life.
And that's,
that's what's going to win him over.
When you're in subjection to him,
that's going to win him over.
You want to win your boss to Christ?
Obey your boss.
And you could win him to Christ.
You could apply it to the same thing.
You want to win your parents to the Christ?
You know kids,
you know,
you'd,
you'd obey them.
It says right here,
who's adorning?
Let's talk about the wives again.
Who's adorning?
Let it not be that outward adorning of pla,
plaiting the hair,
that means braiding your hair,
of wearing of gold or putting on of apparel.
And,
but let it be of the hidden man of the heart and that which is not corruptible,
even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,
which is in the sight of God of great price.
See meekness again,
it's talking about obeying authority.
Meekness is where you let God take care of the outcomes.
As we talked about in Matthew chapter five,
the meek shall inherit the earth.
For after this manner in the old time,
the holy women also who trusted in God,
being in subjection unto their own husbands,
even as Sarah obeyed Abraham,
calling him a Lord,
whose daughters ye are as long as ye do well,
and are not afraid with any amazement.
You see,
what motivated Sarah to obey her husband?
What motivated these other women in the past
that God talks about to obey their husband?
She even called her husband Lord twice in the book of Genesis.
Why did she obey him like that?
The Bible says why,
because she trusted in God.
You say,
what does that have to do with trusting in God?
Well,
because remember,
she knew that all authority was ordained by God.
She knew that God would balance the scales of justice
when she was done wrong.
She knew that if her husband made the decision,
she would be like,
if it was wrong,
God would balance those scales.
She trusted in God.
God gave me the husband
that I'm supposed to have.
God ordained this husband as my...
God ordained the president of the United States.
God ordained the president of every country in the world.
And God ordained every mother and father over their children.
And God ordained my husband over me.
And so I just trust God.
And I just obey and do what I'm supposed to do.
And God's going to take care of me.
And of course he did
in the story there.
And so on and on you'll see this
throughout these verses.
That we need to let God take care of the outcomes.
We need to let God worry about getting vengeance.
Vengeance belongeth unto me, saith the Lord.
I will recompense.
And you see, if Jesus Christ can forgive me
of every sin that I've ever done against him,
if Jesus Christ can forgive you
of everything that you've ever done wrong,
shouldn't we have it in us,
the sinners and imperfect people that we are,
to be able to forgive those that are wrong against us
and say, Father, forgive them.
Lay not this sin against their charge.
And be able to suffer wrongfully
when the boss makes a mistake at work,
when our spiritual authorities make a mistake,
like I'm talking about mother, father, husband,
that type of thing.
When the policeman makes a mistake.
Oh, man, I've got some stories about that one.
I've got some stories about the policeman making a mistake.
But when they make a mistake,
shouldn't we just take it?
Isn't that what Christianity is?
Isn't it Christianity when we just say,
you know what, I'm only on this earth for 70 years,
maybe 80, the Bible says,
and so I can take anything.
Because I know that as soon as I get to heaven,
it's all going to be balanced out.
God's going to balance the scales,
and I'm going to be rewarded for every good thing I did.
I'm going to be rewarded for every time I suffered like Jesus.
And when I get to heaven,
there's going to be a little more closeness
than I have with Jesus
because Jesus and I are going to understand each other
a little bit because I'm going to say,
you know, Jesus, I didn't suffer wrongfully like you did
because you suffered wrongfully for every sin
that's ever been done,
even the stuff I suffered wrongfully,
you suffered for it on the cross,
and more, and the whole world's suffering.
I have no idea what that's like,
and I'm not even perfect,
so probably some of it was my fault
that you suffered for all of it,
the just for the unjust,
but Jesus, you know what,
I was a little bit a partaker of your sufferings
because there were a few times when somebody did wrong me,
and I know it seems small to you, God,
but when somebody did wrong to me,
and I decided to follow the example that you gave me,
I decided to follow in your steps, Jesus,
and be a Christian,
and so I kind of know what it's like.
I kind of am in fellowship with your suffering,
and I kind of know you a little bit better
because I know what that's like, Jesus,
to suffer when I didn't do anything wrong
and just to take it and just to keep my mouth shut
and just to commit myself
to Him that judgeth righteously,
as the Bible says.
I know what that's like, Jesus.
I think you'll feel a little closer to God
when you can do that, what He did,
and on and on.
There's so much more in these chapters.
I had to cut out a lot of it,
and there's so many more scriptures to turn to,
but 1 Peter is trying to teach us,
look, Christianity has some weightier matters of the law,
not just I checked off
all the independent fundamental Baptist checklists.
I checked it off.
No pants on women.
Check.
You know, King James Bible.
Check.
Read the Bible today.
Check.
No, he says, look,
it's a lifestyle of total submission to authority,
total suffering wrongfully,
total not worrying about outcomes,
just doing exactly what God told me to do
and treating every authority figure in my life
as the minister of God.
And then, of course, also the flip side of this quickly
is that if we are an authority figure,
it's almost everybody is an authority figure to somebody.
I mean, either a mother or a father.
There's people under us at work.
On and on.
Almost everybody, at some point in their life,
everybody really is going to be an authority figure.
The flip side of this is that
we need to treat our authority figures like Jesus Christ,
and then the flip side of that is that
the authority figure is supposed to treat his follower
as Jesus Christ would treat his follower.
You know, the wife is supposed to obey her husband
as if he is Jesus Christ,
and then the husband is supposed to treat his wife
as if he is Jesus Christ,
and Jesus Christ gave himself for us.
And so my job as a husband is to be self-sacrificing
and give myself for my wife.
But look, if I don't do that,
is she still supposed to obey me?
Yes.
And if she doesn't obey me,
if she spits...
Let's turn the corner up.
If she spits in my face, literally,
if she spits in my face,
because remember, I'm picturing Jesus in this whole thing
as the authority figure.
If she spits in my face,
if she slaps me in the head,
if she hits me in the head with a stick,
if she beats me with a whip,
and what am I supposed to do?
Just say, well, you know what?
That's grounds for divorce.
You know, I mean, good night.
I mean, I just...
How am I supposed to love my wife when she's so abusive?
Look, no, Jesus...
What would Jesus do in that situation?
Jesus would say,
Father, forgive her for beating me up.
Forgive them.
They know not what they do.
And see, the point is,
whoever doesn't keep their side of the bargain,
we just do what we're supposed to do,
and let God balance the scale.
You see, it's not balanced,
because I'm doing everything I'm supposed to do,
and he or she is not doing anything they're supposed to do.
I'm loving my wife,
but she's yelling at me and cursing me
and calling me names
and ripping me and beating me physically.
And I say, well, so it's not fair.
It's just so unbalanced.
God says, I'll balance it.
I will balance it.
So, husband, you do what you're supposed to do, period.
It doesn't matter.
It's what he's saying.
He says, wife, you do what you're supposed to do.
It doesn't matter what other people do.
Who cares what other people do?
Just pretend like it's me.
And see, if you pretend like...
If I pretend like I'm Jesus and this is my wife,
then you know what?
There's no way it's ever going to come to the point
where she beats me and sends me to hell
and calls me names and everything else.
But the same thing is that if it gets to the point
where I am just angry and mean
and doing everything wrong and not loving,
well, there's no way it's ever going to come to the point
where I am more abusive and more unloving and worse
than Jesus was treated.
It's never going to get to that point.
See, that's why Jesus went to that extreme to show us,
look, look what I went through.
You can go through what I'm asking you to go through.
That's why he said for us to take up our cross daily.
Jesus took up his cross,
and we are to take up the cross that God has laid on us,
the negative things in our life,
the people that we have to deal with that we don't like.
God says, you know, the great psalm says,
must Jesus bear the cross alone, the hymn in the hymn book,
must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free?
No, there's a cross for everyone,
and there's a cross for me.
And Jesus said, if any man will follow me,
let him come after me and deny himself,
make himself not the issue,
and take up his cross and follow me.
Be like me, he's saying.
Follow me.
I carried the cross.
I suffered wrongfully.
I submitted myself to authorities that were abusing me
and that were wrong.
I let God take care of the outcome.
Follow me.
Take up your cross daily.
And when my glory is revealed,
your glory will be revealed too.
If we suffer, the Bible says,
we shall also reign with him.
Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer.
God, I thank you so much for the example that you've given us.
And boy, this is, you know,
people will probably think that some sermon on the sin of nakedness
is the hard sermon that I preach.
But really, in the truth be told,
this is the hardest sermon that I could preach, dear God.
Because this is the pinnacle of what Christianity is about in 1 Peter.
This is the ultimate.
This is where you'd say that you've arrived.
Boy, if anybody gets this down that I preached on this morning,
then they'd have arrived.
Because this is probably the hardest thing to do in Christianity,
is these three things that I just listed.
But Father, please help us to strive to be like you
and to take up our cross daily and to be like you, Jesus.
The hardest thing in the world,
the hardest sermon I could preach.
Be like Jesus.
Take wrong like Jesus.
Suffer like Jesus.