WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.240 Tonight we're going to begin a new study that's just going to be a short wee series through 00:00:05.240 --> 00:00:07.480 the month of February. 00:00:07.480 --> 00:00:13.000 The title of the series is Christians from Monday to Friday. 00:00:13.000 --> 00:00:18.960 Now I should maybe emphasize that Monday to Friday is kind of a metaphor, not saying that 00:00:18.960 --> 00:00:26.839 we're not Christians on Saturday, but what we are focusing on is how our Christian faith 00:00:26.839 --> 00:00:30.879 applies to what we do from Monday to Friday. 00:00:30.879 --> 00:00:35.079 For many of us that will be our jobs, but for some it will be our responsibilities at 00:00:35.079 --> 00:00:40.519 home, for others it may be involvement in the community or connections that we have with 00:00:40.519 --> 00:00:43.320 people who live near us. 00:00:43.320 --> 00:00:47.719 Basically we just want to think about the fact that Christianity is not just for Sundays, 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:55.320 it's something that we must apply and live out from Monday to Friday. 00:00:55.320 --> 00:01:03.240 I want to start by asking a question. 00:01:03.240 --> 00:01:11.280 You're here tonight at church, which is brilliant. 00:01:11.280 --> 00:01:17.640 If your colleagues walked into this room right now and if they observed you from before the 00:01:17.640 --> 00:01:24.359 service, during the service and after the service, would they see the same person that 00:01:24.359 --> 00:01:29.239 they see at work? 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:37.120 Are we sometimes a wee bit different from Monday to Friday as we might be on a Sunday? 00:01:37.120 --> 00:01:45.120 I remember hearing one of the most inspiring and challenging stories that I ever heard. 00:01:45.120 --> 00:01:50.920 It's just very, very brief, but it was in reference to a minister who was one of the 00:01:50.920 --> 00:01:59.760 most well-known and hugely respected preachers of the 20th century. 00:01:59.760 --> 00:02:04.480 I don't know if you're meant to rate preachers, but he's high. 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:08.759 It's not me, it's not Derek either. 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:14.819 But this person, somebody told me that they met this person's daughter and they commented 00:02:14.819 --> 00:02:21.599 on how outstanding his preaching was and how much they admired him as a person. 00:02:21.599 --> 00:02:29.639 The daughter said, yes, but one of the amazing things was that everything he was in the pulpit 00:02:29.639 --> 00:02:33.120 he was at home. 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:39.439 I thought that was an amazing statement because it's easy to be on your best behavior when 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:41.959 you stand up here. 00:02:41.960 --> 00:02:45.719 It's more challenging during the week. 00:02:45.719 --> 00:02:50.480 I heard another story which is kind of the opposite of that. 00:02:50.480 --> 00:02:54.360 Somebody, I'm hearing somebody speak of the fact. 00:02:54.360 --> 00:03:03.640 This was somebody who worked in a public sector job and they had involvement in dealing with 00:03:03.640 --> 00:03:07.159 the clients who would come in. 00:03:07.159 --> 00:03:23.960 The two clients that caused the most difficulty in this organization were church leaders. 00:03:23.960 --> 00:03:27.319 What we are from Monday to Friday really matters. 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:30.120 It's really important. 00:03:30.120 --> 00:03:32.639 I want us to think about that together over the next few weeks. 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:34.359 We're going to look at it in general tonight. 00:03:34.360 --> 00:03:40.120 Then we're going to look at maybe some specific examples of individuals. 00:03:40.120 --> 00:03:44.520 Next week, all being well, we'll have a look at Priscilla and Aquila who are really interesting 00:03:44.520 --> 00:03:49.240 examples of workers in the New Testament. 00:03:49.240 --> 00:03:57.040 Then as we go through February, we'll look at more of the issues that arise from working. 00:03:57.040 --> 00:04:01.200 But tonight I want us to think just in more in general terms of faith and our work. 00:04:01.199 --> 00:04:06.439 The title of the sermon tonight is Monday morning because for many of us, Monday morning 00:04:06.439 --> 00:04:11.079 means one thing, going back to work. 00:04:11.079 --> 00:04:13.280 When I say going back to work, I include that. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:14.759 I mean work in the general sense. 00:04:14.759 --> 00:04:20.319 If that's school or uni or college or even back to your responsibilities at home or 00:04:20.319 --> 00:04:23.879 as part of your wider family or to the things that you're involved in, as those who are 00:04:23.879 --> 00:04:30.680 maybe retired, we're all doing stuff tomorrow morning, all of us. 00:04:30.680 --> 00:04:36.280 Or maybe not that inclined to jump out a bed on Monday morning thinking, yes, it's Monday 00:04:36.280 --> 00:04:38.040 morning. 00:04:38.040 --> 00:04:42.000 Sometimes Monday mornings can be a bit tough. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:44.120 What's the Bible got to say about that for us? 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:49.480 Well, let's look at these verses together, verses 11 to 16. 00:04:49.480 --> 00:04:55.879 Beloved, I urge you as souljourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh 00:04:55.879 --> 00:05:01.560 which wage war against your soul, keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:07.199 when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:09.439 on the day of visitation. 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:14.279 We'll pick up some of the rest of the verses as we go on. 00:05:14.279 --> 00:05:18.639 First thing I want to say is something that I think that we're all aware of and it's 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:25.040 something that we've mentioned several times, I think over the years, is that work is hard. 00:05:25.040 --> 00:05:30.960 Now, there are so many reasons why work is a wonderful thing and it's a huge blessing 00:05:30.960 --> 00:05:36.520 to be employed or to be involved in your community or to have a home to look after. 00:05:36.520 --> 00:05:39.720 And that's part of what God made us to do. 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:42.879 The Catechism we looked at this morning that's in your bulletin speaks about how the fact 00:05:42.879 --> 00:05:48.160 that we're made in God's image, we're made to know Him, to love Him, to live with Him 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:49.600 and to glorify Him. 00:05:49.600 --> 00:05:55.520 And part of that glorifying Him is to be what He intended us to be. 00:05:55.520 --> 00:05:59.160 And if you go all the way back to the beginning of the Bible, you'll see that when God placed 00:05:59.160 --> 00:06:05.920 Adam in the Garden of Eden, He gave him a task to work at it and to keep it. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:13.080 So that's a key biblical principle that work itself is not a sin, work itself is not a 00:06:13.080 --> 00:06:14.080 problem. 00:06:14.079 --> 00:06:20.639 And actually, part of paradise we're all created to be workers. 00:06:20.639 --> 00:06:30.240 And of course, that makes perfect sense of the fact that being unemployed is tough. 00:06:30.240 --> 00:06:33.879 And you know, people think to yourselves, you know, ah, wouldn't it be brilliant to 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:36.240 not have to work every day? 00:06:36.240 --> 00:06:41.360 Actually it's rubbish if you've got no work to do every day. 00:06:41.360 --> 00:06:50.319 To be unemployed is incredibly hard because we are made to work as part of what God intends 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:51.939 for us. 00:06:51.939 --> 00:06:53.840 So there's many ways in which work is brilliant. 00:06:53.840 --> 00:06:59.460 But the Bible also teaches us in Genesis 3 that sin brought a curse into the world. 00:06:59.460 --> 00:07:05.199 Part of that effect was to turn work into toil, ruined work. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:07.759 You can see that there. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:11.360 God responds to Adam's sin by saying, because you listen to the voice of your wife and eating 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:16.399 of the tree of which I told you not to eat, cursed is the ground because of you. 00:07:16.399 --> 00:07:19.399 In pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life. 00:07:19.399 --> 00:07:23.839 Thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you and you shall eat the plants of the field 00:07:23.839 --> 00:07:25.439 by the sweat of your face. 00:07:25.439 --> 00:07:27.759 You shall eat bread till you return to the ground. 00:07:27.759 --> 00:07:33.199 For out of it you were taken, for you are dust and to dust you shall return. 00:07:33.199 --> 00:07:38.560 Ever since then sin has had a devastating effect on work. 00:07:38.560 --> 00:07:44.800 So we can strive to accomplish something only for it to come to nothing. 00:07:44.800 --> 00:07:47.599 You work and work and work and work. 00:07:47.599 --> 00:07:49.439 It comes to nothing. 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:54.839 We can face hostility, criticism and animosity from colleagues. 00:07:54.839 --> 00:07:58.240 Sometimes the people you work with can be the people who are most horrible to you. 00:07:58.240 --> 00:08:00.159 You can face disappointments and discouragements. 00:08:00.160 --> 00:08:04.280 So you think, oh, this is going to be a really good day and then you just get blow after blow. 00:08:04.280 --> 00:08:10.560 We can constantly be crippled by the stress and pressure of our workplace. 00:08:10.560 --> 00:08:17.640 Or you can have the opposite problem where you struggle with boredom or a lack of satisfaction 00:08:17.640 --> 00:08:19.440 and fulfillment. 00:08:19.440 --> 00:08:24.560 And all of these reasons mean that work can be hard and that's why Monday mornings can 00:08:24.560 --> 00:08:29.120 sometimes be a bit rubbish. 00:08:29.120 --> 00:08:36.039 And I just remember that God knows that and that Jesus cares for the burden. 00:08:36.039 --> 00:08:45.879 He says, to come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, we can lean on Him and know 00:08:45.879 --> 00:08:52.240 that He understands that work is hard. 00:08:52.240 --> 00:08:57.120 I've probably said this before, but one of the best prayers you can pray is just two 00:08:57.120 --> 00:08:59.080 words long. 00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:03.000 That's the prayer you know. 00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:08.520 And on Monday morning, if you're struggling to go to work, you can say, Lord, you know. 00:09:08.520 --> 00:09:11.400 And He understands. 00:09:11.400 --> 00:09:15.320 All of this reminds us that the Bible gives us a very coherent explanation, a very logical 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:18.520 explanation why work on a Monday morning is hard. 00:09:18.520 --> 00:09:23.080 However, the great goal of the Bible is to undo that. 00:09:23.080 --> 00:09:26.800 That's the great story of the Bible, to undo the curse of sin. 00:09:26.799 --> 00:09:31.959 God wants to put everything right, and so that includes work. 00:09:31.959 --> 00:09:37.399 And so part of the transforming effect of the work of Jesus Christ, part of the fact 00:09:37.399 --> 00:09:46.319 that the age to come has been inaugurated now, is that work changes for the better when 00:09:46.319 --> 00:09:48.839 you follow Jesus. 00:09:48.839 --> 00:09:56.719 And so for that reason, we have been reminded in 1 Peter 2 that if we truly understand God's 00:09:56.720 --> 00:09:58.440 word, now here's a challenge for you. 00:09:58.440 --> 00:10:05.399 If we truly understand God's word, then work on a Monday morning is exciting. 00:10:05.399 --> 00:10:07.160 Very exciting. 00:10:07.160 --> 00:10:11.480 And Peter gives us two key reasons why that's the case. 00:10:11.480 --> 00:10:13.759 We'll look at them together briefly. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:18.560 Number one, your work, and again as I say, when I say work, I mean whatever you're doing, 00:10:18.560 --> 00:10:23.920 so if you're at home, going to school, school run, classes, whatever it is, your work is 00:10:23.919 --> 00:10:27.959 an opportunity for Christian conduct. 00:10:27.959 --> 00:10:30.279 Look at verse 11 and 12. 00:10:30.279 --> 00:10:34.279 I urge you as soul-generated exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:36.000 war against your soul. 00:10:36.000 --> 00:10:41.839 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, 00:10:41.839 --> 00:10:45.159 they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 00:10:45.159 --> 00:10:50.799 There's three vital words at the start of verse 12. 00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:58.199 Among the Gentiles, Peter's writing to people who are spread all across Asia Minor, which 00:10:58.199 --> 00:11:00.399 is what we would call Turkey nowadays. 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:05.279 If you read at the very start of the book, you get all the different places named by 00:11:05.279 --> 00:11:06.719 Peter. 00:11:06.719 --> 00:11:11.279 He describes these believers as the dispersion. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:18.599 The Greek word is diaspora, just means those who are scattered all over the ancient world. 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:22.360 The situation was that the Christians, they weren't all huddled together in one place 00:11:22.360 --> 00:11:26.440 in this lovely kind of Christian town. 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:29.560 They were scattered everywhere. 00:11:29.560 --> 00:11:34.040 That meant that these Christians were not living in a Christian nation. 00:11:34.040 --> 00:11:36.080 They were not living in a Christian community. 00:11:36.080 --> 00:11:42.680 They were living in a predominantly non-Christian society, which is why Peter describes them 00:11:42.680 --> 00:11:45.279 as soul-journers and exiles. 00:11:45.279 --> 00:11:48.000 They're in a place where they don't really belong. 00:11:48.000 --> 00:11:53.200 They were living in a world that was becoming increasingly hostile to the Christian faith. 00:11:53.200 --> 00:12:01.440 As Christians, they were not at home, and in many ways they did not fit in. 00:12:01.440 --> 00:12:08.360 Which is just like you and me, isn't it, today? 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:11.360 What's Peter going to say to them to do? 00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:16.679 You think to yourself, well, you'd maybe expect Peter to say, well, you guys should cut yourselves 00:12:16.679 --> 00:12:18.879 off from the world around you. 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:20.719 Loads of bad influences there. 00:12:20.719 --> 00:12:22.359 There are loads of potential problems. 00:12:22.359 --> 00:12:28.599 You should flee from that society, and you should isolate yourselves from any unhealthy 00:12:28.599 --> 00:12:29.599 influences. 00:12:29.599 --> 00:12:32.120 Throughout history, a lot of Christians have done that. 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:41.000 They've created communities, buildings, or whatever, where they've done their very best 00:12:41.000 --> 00:12:44.039 to cut themselves off. 00:12:44.039 --> 00:12:47.679 They've even done it in our Scottish culture. 00:12:47.679 --> 00:12:52.399 Maybe it's something that you see more in the Highlands and Islands, where I come from. 00:12:52.399 --> 00:12:58.839 You can see very, very, very definite lines being drawn, where people will go, where they 00:12:58.839 --> 00:13:07.120 won't go, and there's quite big barriers put up. 00:13:07.120 --> 00:13:10.000 Peter's going to tell them to cut themselves off. 00:13:10.000 --> 00:13:16.240 You see, no, he tells them to do the complete opposites. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:17.879 And he's highlighting a vital point. 00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:25.480 He's telling us that Christians must be among the Gentiles, among the people of the world. 00:13:25.480 --> 00:13:28.519 And indeed, that's what the whole chapter is about in many ways. 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:31.519 It's about the Christians' place in society. 00:13:31.519 --> 00:13:35.840 It talks all about honoring the emperors, serving masters, all that kind of stuff. 00:13:35.840 --> 00:13:38.360 It's all about living in the world. 00:13:38.360 --> 00:13:40.080 We are to honor those in authority. 00:13:40.080 --> 00:13:42.399 We're to be subject to human institutions. 00:13:42.399 --> 00:13:46.800 We're to respectfully serve our employers. 00:13:46.800 --> 00:13:52.800 Peter is saying, God wants you among the Gentiles. 00:13:52.800 --> 00:13:55.879 He wants you among unbelievers. 00:13:55.879 --> 00:13:58.200 Jesus said exactly the same thing in the Sermon of the Mount. 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:03.960 He spoke about us being soft and light, so we can make a real difference to the world. 00:14:03.960 --> 00:14:07.600 We can be a light that brightens a dark world. 00:14:07.600 --> 00:14:14.120 We can be a salt that helps to flavor and preserve a world from corruption. 00:14:14.120 --> 00:14:16.159 But he says, there's no use if you hide yourself. 00:14:16.159 --> 00:14:20.399 You don't light a light to put it under a basket. 00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:26.120 You put it on a stand so that it can be visible. 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:31.480 And so both Peter and Jesus are saying we need to be among the Gentiles. 00:14:31.480 --> 00:14:36.240 And they both use the same phrase to explain why this is important. 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:37.879 And so I'm going to put both verses up there. 00:14:37.879 --> 00:14:40.799 So look at those two verses. 00:14:40.799 --> 00:14:42.240 Same phrase appears in both. 00:14:42.240 --> 00:14:43.240 Can you find it? 00:14:43.240 --> 00:14:49.200 This is the explanation as to why we need to be among the Gentiles. 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:54.919 I'm sure you've all seen it. 00:14:54.919 --> 00:15:00.320 It's so they can see you. 00:15:00.320 --> 00:15:10.120 So God wants you out there so people will look at you and see your good deeds. 00:15:10.120 --> 00:15:12.360 God wants you to be in society. 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:14.720 Jesus was the outstanding example of this. 00:15:14.720 --> 00:15:16.280 He worked with people. 00:15:16.280 --> 00:15:17.520 He walked with people. 00:15:17.520 --> 00:15:18.879 He spoke to them. 00:15:18.879 --> 00:15:23.680 Town, streets, public areas, even the people who the rest of society wanted to shun, Jesus 00:15:23.680 --> 00:15:26.040 would go and talk to them. 00:15:26.040 --> 00:15:29.920 It's all a reminder that your job, whatever you're doing tomorrow morning, is an amazing 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:35.919 opportunity for Christian contact with the society in which we live. 00:15:35.919 --> 00:15:40.199 And whatever you're going to be doing tomorrow, you're going to be making contact with people 00:15:40.199 --> 00:15:43.000 who are not Christians. 00:15:43.000 --> 00:15:50.319 And as you make that contact, you are a key participant in God's purposes. 00:15:50.319 --> 00:15:53.719 This is where we have to think through our theology logically. 00:15:53.719 --> 00:15:59.000 So one of the key things that lies in our theology is the fact that God is sovereign. 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:00.240 God is big. 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:01.960 God is in control. 00:16:01.960 --> 00:16:04.720 Part of that is the fact that God is the creator of everything. 00:16:04.720 --> 00:16:06.120 Yes, absolutely. 00:16:06.120 --> 00:16:10.720 But also, coupled to that, is the fact that we believe in God's providence. 00:16:10.720 --> 00:16:14.120 So God doesn't just create the world and then leave it to do its own thing. 00:16:14.120 --> 00:16:19.399 God creates the world and He orders it according to His providence, according to His plan so 00:16:19.399 --> 00:16:23.759 that everything is placed where He wants it to be. 00:16:23.759 --> 00:16:31.720 So that means in application to your job, what you're doing tomorrow morning is exactly 00:16:31.720 --> 00:16:38.759 where God wants you to be and where He needs you to be because there's tons of Gentiles 00:16:38.759 --> 00:16:41.759 who need to see your good works. 00:16:41.759 --> 00:16:46.279 It all fits together perfectly in God's plan. 00:16:46.279 --> 00:16:49.000 That's why God has given you the job that you currently have. 00:16:49.000 --> 00:16:50.360 It doesn't mean you'll always have that job. 00:16:50.360 --> 00:16:51.840 He might give you another job. 00:16:51.840 --> 00:16:57.360 But tomorrow morning, He's got work for you to do. 00:16:57.360 --> 00:17:01.280 As Christians, on the first day of every week, we come together. 00:17:01.280 --> 00:17:07.640 We worship, we eat, we laugh, we catch up, we see one another, we encourage one another. 00:17:07.640 --> 00:17:11.200 Then, pshh, we scatter. 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:17.759 And God puts you in Edinburgh University or Napier or the offices where you work or the 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:24.920 school run or the nursery or the local community that you volunteer in or whatever it is because 00:17:24.920 --> 00:17:28.000 people need to see you. 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:34.440 And that's why you have to remember that whatever your job is, whether you're the boss at the 00:17:34.440 --> 00:17:41.119 top or the new guy at the bottom, your role is of the utmost importance because God wants 00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:44.039 you among unbelievers. 00:17:44.039 --> 00:17:50.240 And have you ever stopped to think about that, how much your colleagues need you among them? 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.720 So we live in a world that is full of greed. 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:55.480 So there's brutal selfishness. 00:17:55.480 --> 00:17:59.359 It's a world of dog eat dogs, especially anyone here who's in the private sector. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:01.079 No mercy. 00:18:01.079 --> 00:18:04.240 No mercy at all. 00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:08.519 Google and Amazon aren't going to sort of be nice to you. 00:18:08.519 --> 00:18:14.440 They'll do whatever they can to make themselves bigger and make other people smaller. 00:18:14.440 --> 00:18:18.559 We live in a world of market forces, so for one to get stronger, someone else has to get 00:18:18.559 --> 00:18:24.079 weaker, it's just the way it works. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:27.879 We live in a world that's saturated with a blame culture, so people are constantly looking 00:18:27.879 --> 00:18:33.519 over their shoulder because if something goes wrong, everyone wants to just pounce and blame 00:18:33.519 --> 00:18:35.000 someone. 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:40.960 We live in a world where the workplace will often be full of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:49.759 envy, slander, and your colleagues are grinding out their lives in that world. 00:18:49.759 --> 00:18:55.079 And they desperately need you there. 00:18:55.079 --> 00:18:58.039 They desperately need you among them. 00:18:58.039 --> 00:19:00.200 Our society needs Christians everywhere. 00:19:00.200 --> 00:19:05.559 That's what makes your job so exciting because you are there as a Christian. 00:19:05.559 --> 00:19:07.039 You are among them. 00:19:07.039 --> 00:19:12.880 And God is giving you a wonderful opportunity for contact with a world that desperately 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:16.559 needs to see the light that is within you. 00:19:16.559 --> 00:19:21.140 So tomorrow morning is an opportunity for Christian contact. 00:19:21.140 --> 00:19:25.319 We need to be among the Gentiles. 00:19:25.319 --> 00:19:36.200 However, being among the Gentiles does not mean behaving like them. 00:19:36.200 --> 00:19:38.439 And that brings us to our second point. 00:19:38.439 --> 00:19:42.179 Your job is an opportunity for Christian contact. 00:19:42.179 --> 00:19:46.720 Your job is also an opportunity for Christian conduct. 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:50.439 Look again at verse 11. 00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:56.400 Beloved, I urge you as souljourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh 00:19:56.400 --> 00:19:58.880 which wage war against your soul. 00:19:58.880 --> 00:20:03.880 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable. 00:20:03.880 --> 00:20:07.279 Peter's telling us what we should do when we are among the Gentiles. 00:20:07.279 --> 00:20:10.480 We are to keep our conduct honorable. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:13.360 Now, that word conduct is really interesting. 00:20:13.360 --> 00:20:16.840 It literally means to go about in a place. 00:20:16.840 --> 00:20:19.120 So turning about in a place. 00:20:19.119 --> 00:20:24.399 And it just conveys the idea, a broad picture of your conduct, your way of life, how you 00:20:24.399 --> 00:20:25.519 act. 00:20:25.519 --> 00:20:28.159 We would maybe use the phrase, how you go about yourself. 00:20:28.159 --> 00:20:30.839 Have you seen how he goes about himself? 00:20:30.839 --> 00:20:31.839 Maybe you don't use that phrase here. 00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:33.559 We use it in Lewis anyway. 00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:36.839 And just refers to someone's behavior. 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:38.039 It's a broad term. 00:20:38.039 --> 00:20:45.079 It's encapsulating our whole lives, our attitudes, our actions, our speech, our habits, our reactions, 00:20:45.079 --> 00:20:46.919 our day-to-day conduct. 00:20:46.920 --> 00:20:52.600 It's a word, therefore, that applies to the normal routine of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, 00:20:52.600 --> 00:20:55.440 Thursday, and Friday. 00:20:55.440 --> 00:20:57.039 It's not unique. 00:20:57.039 --> 00:20:59.120 It's not for special occasions. 00:20:59.120 --> 00:21:03.160 It's for your day-to-day life. 00:21:03.160 --> 00:21:13.480 God wants it to be the case that my day-to-day routine and your day-to-day routine as Christians 00:21:13.480 --> 00:21:18.920 is outstanding in its quality of behavior. 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:22.440 That's how we should be. 00:21:22.440 --> 00:21:26.120 The word honorable there basically means good. 00:21:26.120 --> 00:21:30.759 It can also be translated noble, beautiful, excellent, right. 00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:36.720 It's telling us that God wants our daily routine to be a model of excellent behavior. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:41.759 And that inevitably involves avoiding certain habits. 00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:47.079 Peter says that there, right there, you can see, abstain from the passions of the flesh, 00:21:47.079 --> 00:21:48.480 which wage war against your soul. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:52.920 So there's certain stuff we have to avoid and not do. 00:21:52.920 --> 00:21:57.000 A little later on, Peter gives more examples of that in chapter four. 00:21:57.000 --> 00:21:58.000 You can see it there. 00:21:58.000 --> 00:22:02.680 For the time that has passed, suffices for doing what the Gentas want to do, living in 00:22:02.680 --> 00:22:08.000 sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. 00:22:08.000 --> 00:22:12.720 With respect to this, they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of 00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:16.599 debauchery and the malign you know. 00:22:16.599 --> 00:22:20.400 This is a really, really interesting section of scripture because you read that and you 00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:28.359 think, boy, how depraved these Gentiles of Asia Minor were. 00:22:28.359 --> 00:22:34.680 And yet, think about the workplaces of today. 00:22:34.680 --> 00:22:37.240 Graham spoke about that. 00:22:37.240 --> 00:22:42.720 Some workplaces are really tough environments. 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:49.720 So in the workplace today, how often will people talk with little or no restraint about 00:22:49.720 --> 00:22:52.440 sexual matters? 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:55.160 That sensuality. 00:22:55.160 --> 00:23:01.720 How often do we encounter people who have the deepest cravings for worldly possessions? 00:23:01.720 --> 00:23:06.559 They want more status, more power, more riches. 00:23:06.559 --> 00:23:10.759 That's the passions that Peter is referring to. 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:15.240 How often do we encounter people at work who are just living for Friday and Saturday night 00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:25.480 where they can drink to excess, party without restraint, go crazy, drunkenness, orgies, and 00:23:25.480 --> 00:23:27.759 drinking parties? 00:23:27.759 --> 00:23:31.720 How often do we come across people who've got no thought of God and instead they're 00:23:31.720 --> 00:23:35.839 living life for idols of their own making? 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:42.000 Peter's describing Monday morning for loads of people. 00:23:42.000 --> 00:23:46.119 And he uses a really vivid phrase there at the end of verse four to describe it. 00:23:46.119 --> 00:23:49.839 He describes it all as a flood of debauchery. 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:57.079 And I don't want to sound kind of all old fashioned and cranky, but I think that's a 00:23:57.079 --> 00:24:02.599 phrase that really does describe so many aspects of society today. 00:24:02.599 --> 00:24:10.759 You look at our newspapers, you look at our TV programs, you look at our films. 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:13.639 There's a flood of debauchery and all of that stuff. 00:24:13.639 --> 00:24:20.240 Not saying it's all bad, but there's a heck of a lot that's not good. 00:24:20.240 --> 00:24:30.679 And this way of life where people have abandoned themselves to reckless and moral behavior, 00:24:30.680 --> 00:24:38.200 it is seen as cool and it's seen as impressive. 00:24:38.200 --> 00:24:45.160 And that's why people will think that you are crazy for not joining in. 00:24:45.160 --> 00:24:50.400 And God knows that, which is why Peter says they're going to be surprised when you don't 00:24:50.400 --> 00:24:51.400 join in. 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:53.120 They're going to speak badly of you. 00:24:53.120 --> 00:24:56.400 They'll malign you because you won't join in. 00:24:56.400 --> 00:25:00.600 And that's a reality you may have faced in the past week and that you might face this 00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:01.599 week. 00:25:01.599 --> 00:25:06.480 You might face it at Friday lunchtime where they say, we're all going out to do whatever. 00:25:06.480 --> 00:25:07.480 Why won't you come? 00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:08.480 And you say, well, I don't want to come. 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:10.399 And they're like, eh? 00:25:10.399 --> 00:25:13.119 You might face that. 00:25:13.119 --> 00:25:15.839 We want to be ready. 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:20.039 And if we do face that, we have to ask the question, what is the correct response to 00:25:20.039 --> 00:25:21.639 this kind of situation? 00:25:21.639 --> 00:25:24.240 How do we respond to that kind of behavior? 00:25:24.240 --> 00:25:27.759 Well, first and foremost, we don't join in. 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:31.920 Peter said to us, abstain, you remember that. 00:25:31.920 --> 00:25:34.519 But we ask ourselves, well, what should we do? 00:25:34.519 --> 00:25:38.039 And you think to yourself, well, maybe we should just avoid these people and keep away 00:25:38.039 --> 00:25:39.039 from them. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:40.279 And people might say that to you. 00:25:40.279 --> 00:25:43.480 They might say, have nothing to do with people. 00:25:43.480 --> 00:25:44.480 Don't go near them. 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:45.920 Don't talk to them. 00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:50.160 But I don't think that that's really the biblical instruction for us because, as Peter 00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:53.759 says, we need to be among the Gentiles. 00:25:53.759 --> 00:25:55.920 We need to be there. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:25:58.240 Another option is to condemn these people. 00:25:58.240 --> 00:26:02.800 And sometimes, sometimes as Christians, we can do that. 00:26:02.800 --> 00:26:08.720 And so we respond to the conduct of the world around us by expressing a firm judgment over 00:26:08.720 --> 00:26:11.800 the people whose behavior we disapprove of. 00:26:11.800 --> 00:26:18.560 So sometimes we kind of think we're a wee bit of a moral police force, and we can be 00:26:18.560 --> 00:26:23.360 pretty critical of what others are doing. 00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:30.559 Then I'm not convinced that that's what the New Testament tells us to do. 00:26:30.559 --> 00:26:33.039 So what should we do? 00:26:33.039 --> 00:26:40.559 What should you do at work this week if all around you you're facing a flood of debauchery? 00:26:40.559 --> 00:26:46.919 Well the answer is actually really simple, really simple, really important. 00:26:46.920 --> 00:26:54.920 And it's back in verse 11, we are to show our good works. 00:26:54.920 --> 00:26:55.920 I'm not going to read all of that. 00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:58.440 I'm just going to read the first four lines or so. 00:26:58.440 --> 00:27:02.360 I urge you as sojourners and exiles abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage 00:27:02.360 --> 00:27:03.680 water against your soul. 00:27:03.680 --> 00:27:08.160 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against you as evildoers, 00:27:08.160 --> 00:27:16.480 they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 00:27:16.480 --> 00:27:22.400 We are to respond to the worldly behavior around us, to the challenges that we face 00:27:22.400 --> 00:27:23.400 at work. 00:27:23.400 --> 00:27:28.880 We are to respond to that with a standard of daily conduct that is excellent. 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:33.000 And as Peter expands, we are to be faithful at work as part of a society. 00:27:33.000 --> 00:27:38.039 We are to be respectful towards all those that we work with and that we work for, and 00:27:38.039 --> 00:27:43.000 we are to be an influence for good in our workplaces. 00:27:43.000 --> 00:27:49.079 And God is reminding us all that when you go to work on Monday morning and you're surrounded 00:27:49.079 --> 00:27:57.000 by all of this stuff, you have an amazing, amazing opportunity to be different. 00:27:57.000 --> 00:28:04.400 And through that, you can transform your workplace and you can do so much good for those who 00:28:04.400 --> 00:28:06.400 work alongside you. 00:28:06.400 --> 00:28:10.440 So you might be surrounded by people who are miserable on Monday morning tomorrow. 00:28:10.440 --> 00:28:16.240 You can go to work and you can bring joy and enthusiasm to your office. 00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:20.559 You might be surrounded by people who feel frustrated and weary, who've maybe had a 00:28:20.559 --> 00:28:21.640 horrible weekend. 00:28:21.640 --> 00:28:25.960 You can encourage them and show them that you care. 00:28:25.960 --> 00:28:29.400 You might be dealing with customers who are difficult and demanding. 00:28:29.400 --> 00:28:33.680 You can be patient at all times. 00:28:33.680 --> 00:28:37.440 You might be surrounded by colleagues who are selfish or harsh. 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:40.640 You can be kind. 00:28:40.640 --> 00:28:45.640 You might be in an office that's full of gossip or criticism or complaining. 00:28:45.640 --> 00:28:50.160 You can be self-controlled. 00:28:50.160 --> 00:28:55.960 And all of that is an immensely powerful witness because ultimately nobody can argue with consistent 00:28:55.960 --> 00:29:02.440 Christian conduct because by doing good, as verse 15 tells us, by doing good, you'll see 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:08.279 in there about four lines from the bottom, by doing good, you should put to silence the 00:29:08.279 --> 00:29:13.200 ignorance of foolish people. 00:29:13.200 --> 00:29:21.640 God wants you in the workplace so that you can be a brilliant model of Christian conduct. 00:29:21.640 --> 00:29:28.519 And at times, that may involve suffering. 00:29:28.519 --> 00:29:32.920 That may be tough, and that was the reality for Peter's readers. 00:29:32.920 --> 00:29:41.639 But we read towards the end of the chapter words that we should hold onto when we face 00:29:41.639 --> 00:29:42.639 that situation. 00:29:42.639 --> 00:29:43.639 And I'm not really going to comment on them. 00:29:43.639 --> 00:29:50.160 I'm just going to read them and let them just speak for themselves. 00:29:50.160 --> 00:29:56.200 For this is a gracious thing when mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering 00:29:56.200 --> 00:29:58.079 unjustly. 00:29:58.079 --> 00:30:02.960 For what credit is it if when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? 00:30:02.960 --> 00:30:08.679 Now, think of being in the office just now or wherever you work. 00:30:08.679 --> 00:30:13.199 But if when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the 00:30:13.199 --> 00:30:14.839 sight of God. 00:30:14.839 --> 00:30:21.199 For to this you have been called because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example 00:30:21.199 --> 00:30:23.319 so that you might follow in his steps. 00:30:23.319 --> 00:30:25.399 He committed no sin. 00:30:25.400 --> 00:30:28.840 Peter was deceit found in his mouth when he was reviled. 00:30:28.840 --> 00:30:31.720 He did not revile and return when he suffered. 00:30:31.720 --> 00:30:36.960 He did not threaten, but continued in trusting himself to him who judges justly. 00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:42.960 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree that we might die to sin and live to 00:30:42.960 --> 00:30:45.960 righteousness by his wounds. 00:30:45.960 --> 00:30:48.680 You have been healed for you were like sheep. 00:30:48.680 --> 00:30:55.240 You are staying like sheep, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. 00:30:55.240 --> 00:31:01.640 So, yes, Monday morning can be a bit grim sometimes. 00:31:01.640 --> 00:31:06.920 But as a Christian, your work is such an incredibly precious thing. 00:31:06.920 --> 00:31:13.480 It's an opportunity for Christian contact and how desperately the workplaces of Edinburgh 00:31:13.480 --> 00:31:15.480 need that. 00:31:15.480 --> 00:31:18.720 And it's an opportunity for Christian contact. 00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:24.960 And that really is the foundation of our witness that people would see you spewing so good 00:31:24.960 --> 00:31:31.480 to them that it will lead them to give glory to God. 00:31:31.480 --> 00:31:39.079 And if you're maybe not yet a Christian, I really hope that all of this shows you that 00:31:39.079 --> 00:31:45.200 following Jesus makes an amazing difference in your life. 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:52.519 Not just on a Sunday, but Monday to Friday as well. 00:31:52.519 --> 00:32:00.400 So when you guys go to work tomorrow morning or wherever you're going, may God bless you, 00:32:00.400 --> 00:32:04.720 encourage you, uphold you and use you. 00:32:04.720 --> 00:32:11.240 And whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from 00:32:11.240 --> 00:32:15.480 the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. 00:32:15.480 --> 00:32:18.720 You are serving the Lord Christ. 00:32:18.720 --> 00:32:19.720 Amen. 00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:24.519 Let's pray. 00:32:24.519 --> 00:32:28.240 Dear God, our Father, we thank you for the privilege of work. 00:32:28.240 --> 00:32:36.079 And we pray that for us all in the duties that we have in the week to come, whether that's 00:32:36.079 --> 00:32:43.839 employment or responsibilities at home or in education or in the other activities that 00:32:43.839 --> 00:32:49.360 we may be engaged in in our lives, where we are in contact with other people. 00:32:49.359 --> 00:32:58.639 We pray, oh God, that in all of these situations, our conduct would be honourable to you and 00:32:58.639 --> 00:33:04.119 that it would be a means of building up contact with people who desperately need to hear the 00:33:04.119 --> 00:33:06.119 Gospel. 00:33:06.119 --> 00:33:12.879 Please also help those who are unemployed or who for health reasons are unable to work. 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:21.040 It's a heavy burden to carry and we pray that you would sustain those in that situation. 00:33:21.040 --> 00:33:22.640 And we want to commit our lives to you. 00:33:22.640 --> 00:33:28.960 We want to commit our working lives to you, praying that in everything that we do, we'd 00:33:28.960 --> 00:33:32.760 remember that we're doing it for you. 00:33:32.759 --> 00:33:43.200 Amen.