Thanks be to God.
If you have not had a chance to turn your Bibles to 1 Peter 2 yet, please do so now.
Chapter 2, verses 18-25.
We have been going through the book of 1 Peter, and within the book of 1 Peter,
we're kind of in a mini-series within the book about talking about our freedom in Christ
and how that leads us to one we talked about last week's submit to human institutions,
including governing authorities, and this week about our freedom to serve
and being subject even to masters or employers that we might have.
And so this is 1 Peter 2, 18-25.
And in his book, Liberating the Laity, Paul Stevens, an author,
writes about how most lay Christians, so not pastors or ministers,
but lay Christians that go to church and go to other church events and such,
will spend about 3,000 to 4,000 hours with church people in church functions.
But compare that to the fact that the same people spend 60,000 to 80,000 hours at their workplace.
So that's a huge imbalance there, and I don't mean that in the sense that you need to spend as much time
with church as you do at work.
But what is important is that that means the important part of Christian discipleship
has to be about our workplace, how we conduct ourselves in the workplace.
And unfortunately, as people who study this stuff at London Institute for Contemporary Theology,
they say that 98% of Christians are not equipped or envisioned for living as Christians in the workplace.
So that means most Christians are invited or recruited to use their volunteer hours serving at church
when really for most of their lives, their work hours,
they are not really serving Christ and living for Christ
and have not been equipped and envisioned to do so.
But Scripture not only addresses how we have to live personally as Christians
or within the context of the church,
but also how we have to live and behave in society and the workplace as well.
And that's what Peter talks about here in this passage.
And he wants to teach us that we ought to, as believers,
serve God in the workplace by doing good while suffering,
just as Christ did good and suffered for us.
So that's the big idea that Peter tries to get across to us in this passage.
And he starts in verse 18.
So read with me there.
It says,
Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect,
not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unjust.
As I mentioned,
last week we talked about submitting to human institutions
and the same word was used.
Be subject for the Lord's sake, it said, to every human institution.
And he's telling now slaves, household slaves,
at the time it was written,
to be subject to their masters with all respect.
And now at this point you're probably asking,
okay, so how does this have anything to do with our work?
I mean, they're talking to slaves.
He's talking to...
And secondly,
why does Peter say nothing about the evil of slavery
and instead tell slaves to be subject even to unjust masters?
So that might be a question that you might be asking.
And I will address both of these questions in turn.
So you probably have heard it said
that the Bible is bigoted and regressive
because it doesn't address things like slavery
that most modern people agree is evil
and that it doesn't criticize it as evil,
that the Bible doesn't.
However, I want to point out
that the slavery in the Greco-Roman world
is very different from the slavery that we think of.
When we hear the word slavery,
we immediately think of 17th, 18th, 9th century slavery, right?
The New World slavery.
But that's very different from that.
So there's a book called Slave of Christ
by a biblical scholar named Murray Harris
where he writes about slaves in the Greco-Roman times.
And he writes, first of all,
that the slaves in the Greco-Roman world
were totally indistinguishable
from the rest of the people in society.
By how they looked,
by how they dressed,
you know, how they walked about in the streets,
they were completely indistinguishable
from the rest of society.
But in contrast,
the New World slavery, right,
its slaves were distinguishable
because it was race-based, right?
It was all African Americans
or people taken from another place.
That was not the case.
The slavery in this Greco-Roman world
was not race-based.
And then secondly,
slavery in the Greco-Roman world
was different
because the slaves were often highly educated.
Sometimes they were even more educated
than their masters.
But they just turned to tough financial times,
whatever,
and they sold themselves into this position
so that they can work,
have a means of living.
And for that reason,
they often held managerial positions
and were able to make enough money
to often buy themselves out of slavery again.
In contrast,
New World slavery, right,
slaves were reduced to menial and manual labor, right?
And they were forced to work
pretty much for the rest of their lives.
There was no guarantee of manumission, right?
They could not buy themselves out in most cases, right?
And finally,
as I mentioned,
the Greco-Roman slaves
sometimes sold themselves into,
put themselves in that situation
because that was better
than living in poverty
or whatever they were in.
But in the New World,
the slaves were not,
didn't become slaves voluntarily.
Rather,
they were forced into slavery
through kidnapping, right?
Which is roundly condemned
by both the Old and the New Testament.
1 Timothy 1, 9,
Deuteronomy 24, 7.
So it was not justifiable in any way, right?
So that's,
it's very different.
And now I don't say this
just to justify slavery
in biblical times,
but I say this
to give you a picture
so that you recognize
that it's not an equal comparison
when you criticize the Bible
on the basis of New World slavery, right?
Because that was a completely
different situation.
And even though it's,
and we may,
we'll still agree
that slavery in this time
is wrong as well
because it's not right
for one human being
made in the image of God
to own another human being
made in the image of God, right?
So it's that the humans
are not intended to be property, right?
And even in this time,
even though the slaves
were much better off
in the Greco-Roman world,
they were still considered property.
And Peter begins to challenge
some of the cultural
understanding of slavery as well.
And we know this
because how he begins verse 18.
He says, servants, right?
He's directly addressing servants.
That's, that's, he's saying,
he's talking to them.
He's speaking to them.
And Greek philosophers,
for example, Aristotle,
wrote about how slaves
cannot think deliberately, right?
They wrote about the fact
that slaves, therefore,
should not be addressed,
but rather should be addressed
through their masters, right?
Peter is not buying any of that.
He's speaking directly
to the slaves
and affirming their dignity
and saying,
I have something to say to you, right?
God has something to say to you, right?
And in addition to that, right,
the slaves in this culture
were expected to subscribe
to the religion,
faith of their masters.
They didn't have a choice, right?
But here,
Peter clearly assumes
that these slaves
would be following God
regardless of where
the masters'
religious allegiance lay.
lay, right?
So he's, again,
affirming the dignity
of slaves,
even in this culture.
So he's beginning
to challenge that.
And then finally,
we have to remember
that Christians
in the Roman Empire
did not have the political clout
that we now have,
people living in a democratic
United States of America
where we can vote
or we can lead,
we can protest.
They, I mean,
they would have been executed
or, you know,
they would have been
quelched immediately.
So they did not have
the political means
to affect the kind of change
that we saw
in this world.
And theologian Miroslav
Wolf observes
about this situation.
He says,
The call to follow
the crucified Messiah
was,
in the long run,
much more effective
in changing the unjust
political,
economic,
and familial structures
than direct exhortations
to revolutionize them
would ever happen.
For an allegiance
to the crucified Messiah,
indeed,
worship of a
crucified God
is an eminently
political act
that subverts
a politics of dominion
at its very core.
You guys follow that?
So what he's saying
is that as Christians
we're called to serve
and be subject to
and to suffer
in the pattern
of a crucified Christ
because Christ himself
submitted,
he became subject to
and suffered on our behalf.
And because of that,
that kind of mentality,
that kind of mindset
and attitude
in the way we live
radically subverts
the politics of domination,
power over another being.
Right?
So in doing this
and in teaching these things,
Peter is subverting
the structure
from the bottom up.
He's laying
the moral
and the spiritual
groundwork necessary
for any kind of
social and political change.
Right?
So you see this
in what Peter is doing.
So he goes on,
once again,
verse 18,
servants speaking to them,
be subject to your masters
with all respect,
not only to the good
and gentle,
but also to the unjust.
This is particularly
relevant for believers
because slaves occupied
the lowest,
you know,
social stratum
in Greco-Roman society.
But Peter had just
told everybody
that he's writing to
in verse 16,
earlier chapter 1,
verse 16,
live as people
who are free,
not using your freedom
as a cover-up for evil,
but living as servants.
The word is slaves
of God.
Right?
Regardless of
your social status,
whether you're a noble
or whether you're a slave
or whether you're an emperor,
as a Christian,
you are a slave
of God,
he says.
Right?
And because of this,
this actual slaves
in the Roman Empire
becomes the paradigm,
the example,
the pattern.
Right?
That all Christians
cannot identify with
because we're all
the slaves of God.
And this is not a sign
of our enslavement.
Rather,
it's a sign of our freedom
because we belong to God
and only those
who truly belong to God
can be free
because God alone
is Lord over all things
and for us to be
enslaved to anything else
would be true slavery.
And because Christians
are slaves
first and foremost
to God,
it's not human authority,
the authority of these masters
that demands our allegiance,
but it's the fact
that it's God's authority.
It's the fact
that we're loyal to God
that we are supposed
to be subject
to their masters.
And that's what the phrase
with all respect
refers to.
Literally,
actually,
the phrase
with all respect
can be translated
in all fear.
Right?
And now that I say fear,
some of you guys
who have been here
for the whole series
already,
it rings a bell
because you've heard
the word fear
several times mentioned.
In chapter 2,
verse 17,
Peter said,
honor everyone,
love the brotherhood,
fear God,
and honor the emperor.
Right?
Chapter 1,
verse 17,
he said,
and if you call on him
as father
who judges impartially
according to each one's deeds,
conduct yourselves
with fear
throughout the time
of your exile.
This fear is not
a terrifying fear.
Rather,
it's a reverential awe
that the idea
of living constantly
every moment of your life
before the face of God,
the fact that the God,
the impartial judge,
is watching.
Right?
And that changes
the way we live.
Right?
That's the kind of fear
that he's talking about.
And because he repeatedly says,
1 Peter,
the Bible never exhorts us
to be fearful of men.
Never tells us
to fear men.
It only tells us
fear God.
So when he says,
be subject to your masters
in all fear,
with all respect.
He's saying,
don't be subject
to your masters
because you fear that master.
Be subject to your masters
because you fear God.
Right?
That's why in verse 19
he continues,
for this is a gracious thing
when mindful,
of who?
Mindful of God,
not mindful of men,
one endures sorrows
while suffering unjustly.
Right?
It's because we're mindful of God
that we're supposed
to be subject
even to unjust masters.
Right?
If we were being subject
to the masters
for their own merit
or their own deserving,
then we wouldn't be subject
to the unjust ones.
But because we're doing it
on the basis of God's authority
and his call on our lives,
we are to be subject
even to the unjust masters.
Right?
And this is a gracious thing
before God.
It's,
it's,
God shows favor.
He's gracious
toward those
who are suffering
in this way
and being subject
to human masters.
And,
and because
the slavery
in the context
of the Greco-Roman Empire
was different,
it's kind of more like
indentured servanthood
than slavery
that we know of.
We can rightly
apply it
to our workplace.
Right?
Because we're,
we're called
to be subject
to all human institutions
as we learned
in the last passage
and we are really
beholden to
our employers.
They,
they pay us.
Right?
Where we owe them
a certain allegiance
and a loyalty.
We're supposed to
serve them.
We're supposed to
work for them.
Right?
And so in this context
if we could,
we could apply this passage
to that for,
to our workplace
for that reason.
And he tells us
in verse 20
that we are to serve God
in the workplace
by suffering
while doing good.
Right?
So he continues
look with me
at verse 20.
For what credit is it
if when you sin
and are beaten for it
you endure?
But if when you do good
and suffer for it
you endure?
This is a gracious thing
in the sight of God.
Once again he's saying
it's a gracious thing
in the sight of God.
Did you catch that?
So there's,
the Bible's not giving us
any excuses
for getting punished
for doing bad things.
Right?
I mean he's saying
like what credit
is it to you
if you sin
and are beaten for it?
I mean if you sin
and are beaten for it
then you deserve it.
Right?
He's saying that's not
to our credit.
Right?
So he's,
it's not
and plenty of people
get punished at workplace
for doing bad things.
Right?
For negligence,
for rudeness
or for lack of accountability
or maybe
even deceit
or fraud
or just simple incompetence.
Right?
So these things
are not what Peter
has in mind.
He's not saying
well if you get punished
for doing bad things
then yeah you deserve that.
But,
but as Christians
we are to do good
and suffer
on account of that.
While doing good
we're supposed to endure
unjust suffering.
Then what does it mean
to do good
in the workplace?
And we learned
lastly
he told us to do good
in the context of society as well.
We learned that doing good
involves not just doing something
that is good
only to Christians
but doing good
that is recognized
there's a common recognition
by society at large as well
is good.
Right?
So that they also
the world also sees
that it is good.
There will be some conflict
of interest
there will be some conflict
in values
but there are things
that we hold in common
that the Christians
would uphold as good
that the world also sees
as good.
And likewise
in the workplace
I think a similar idea
is in play.
In fact
I think it goes back
all the way to Genesis 1
when God creates all things
he creates the universe
he says
it is good.
Right?
And at the end of all creation
as he rejoices over all creation
he says
it is very good.
Right?
So
then our work
everything that we do
is to be patterned
after what God did
in Genesis 1
to do
to create
what is good.
Right?
And let me unpack
what this means
because
as Christians
it's so easy
to just think about
okay so that means
now I need to go
into the workplace
make sure I have my Bible
out on my desk
and make sure
every time I get an opportunity
I evangelize.
Right?
And that's not
I don't think
what this doing good
is referring to.
In fact
there's a really
well done film
from 1999
called
The Big Kahuna
and has anyone seen that?
I guess that's pretty old.
Yeah.
It's
it has
it's Kevin Spacey
in it
it's spectacularly acted.
It's about
three salesmen
of industrial lubricants
and they go
on a business trip
to Wichita
in Kansas
and
they go
and there's this
big kahuna
at the conference
and
he's the president
of this large company
and they need to land
a deal
with this guy.
Right?
And
the way
the circumstances
pan out
it turns out
that only one of them
of the three
has an actual opportunity
to even meet this guy
this big kahuna
and unfortunately
that one guy
is a first time
business trip
it's his first time
business trip
and he happens
to be
a born again
Christian
and that's how
he's described
and
he's very
sincere
in one way
and he goes
into the meeting
and he comes back
and these other two guys
are waiting
and there's
I mean
they get up
immediately
as he comes
into the door
oh so did you get
to meet him?
And he says
yes I did
so well
did you talk to him?
He's like
yes I did
and
they're starting
to get frustrated
and they say
so I mean
what did you guys
talk about?
And his name is Bob
what did you talk
about Bob?
And then Bob
hesitating
continues
and he says
we talked about Christ
and after a long
weighty silence
one of the guys
Larry
asks with
a look of
utter disbelief
you talked about
Jesus?
He's shocked
and frustrated
and he quips back
did you mention
perhaps
what line of
lubricants
Jesus would have
endorsed?
And what did you
say to him
Bob?
Larry says
and as the
conversation goes on
Bob admits
that the president
never brought up
the subject of
Jesus
he did
and he never
brought up
the subject
of industrial
lubricants
and the
conversation gets
heated
and at some
point
Bob also gets
exasperated
and he says
I understand
Larry
I just don't
see the
crime
and speaking
to another
human being
as another
human being
I couldn't
mention work
or lubricants
or anything
like that
because I
didn't want
him to think
that I was
using the
subject of
religion
to cozy
up to him
to get
him to sign
some contract
I didn't
want him to
think that I
was insincere
and then Larry
says this
back to him
but you were
insincere
Bob
in a much
greater sense
the company
sent us here
they said
Bob
Larry
Phil
why don't
you go
down to
Wichita
for a
couple
of days
don't
worry
about
your
room
and board
we'll
take care
of that
and for
a couple
of days
Bob
we become
the hands
of the
company
shaking
all the
other hands
before us
what you
did
the reason
why you
were insincere
is that you
cut off
that bond
it would be
like the
hand breaking
itself off
from the arm
and saying
oh I got
this other
thing going
on out
here that
has nothing
to do
with you
right
Bob
is
devastated
he was
a sincere
believer
but he
was an
insincere
employee
right
I don't
think that's
what God
has in mind
for us
but he
says do
good
while suffering
at work
he wants
us to
flourish
in the
workplace
he wants
us to
do good
in the
work
he doesn't
want us
to be
an
ineffective
employee
in fact
there's
ethical
questions
to be
brought
into that
as well
since he's
getting paid
to do a
certain
thing
and during
that paid
time
he was
doing
something
that he
was not
supposed
to do
right
and he
wasn't even
an effective
witness
right
because he
lost
the credibility
before his
co-workers
and he
became a
sales pitch
because he
steered a
conversation
to go to
that as
opposed to
really caring
for that
person
loving him
in the
context of
relationship
sharing the
gospel
with that
person
right
but
I would
also
challenge
that
that this
then means
we should
just leave
our faith
at home
and then go
do good
work
work hard
and that's
what the
enlightenment
thinking
would have
us think
right
the enlightenment
worldview
separates
the facts
of the
public
sector
from the
values of
the private
sector
right
they say
in your
workplace
do everything
according to
the facts
don't bring
any of your
values
which are
private and
personal and
relative
here
right
but that's
a completely
unreasonable
and just
an unfeasible
thing to do
because everybody
brings values
everybody lives
out of their
values
and we can't
as Christians
let the
facts of the
business world
of the bottom
line of
profit
you know
and
trump our
Christian values
of integrity
right
and charity
and equity
right
and it's
profit is a
good thing
right
and when you
make profit
as a business
you're able to
compensate your
employees and
your investors
well
and when you
work for a good
company with a good
purpose then you're
producing good
you're producing
doing a common
good for the
service of mankind
so profit
itself in and of
itself is not a
bad thing
but when that
becomes the
purpose
when that becomes
the driving factor
in our work
that can lead
to dehumanizing
bureaucracies
it could lead
to dead end
jobs
it could lead
to bad
customer service
it could lead
to all kinds
of bad
work
right
so as
Christians
we can uniquely
contribute to
that
do good
while suffering
because we
have this
this
the gospel
perspective
on the world
same thing
if you're a
Christian in
education
right
and sometimes
the temptation
is to idolize
education itself
as the panacea
the thing
that will solve
all evils
in society
as long as
people are more
educated
then everything
will be better
right
but we know
better than that
as believers
don't we
because we know
the gospel
and we know
that the deep
root sin
at the root
sin is the cause
of all social
ills
the broken
homes
the inequitable
distribution of
funds in
schools
right
all of this
and because of
that we're able
to have a more
properly pessimistic
and more properly
optimistic view
of education
right
because we know
that God
is redeeming
all creation
we can serve
in light of that
and offer the hope
of forgiveness
and accountability
and create a culture
of mutual accountability
in our education
and also Christian
educators
as because we have
the gospel perspective
we can remember
that self-knowledge
and self-discipline
and virtue
can't be neglected
right
at the expense
of getting trained
so that you can be
a better wage earner
right
the gospel perspective
changes that
and as we do that
we might suffer
right
and Christians
in business
might suffer
when you live
when you work
with integrity
and you work
and do good
in your workplace
you might suffer
in your bottom line
in your profits
and you might even
get punished
by your employees
in education as well
when you try to offer
a more holistic education
in investing in the kids
and teaching values
teaching them
not only to be
better wage earners
or technicians
but teaching them
also to be better citizens
when you do that
you could also
get punished
right
you could suffer
unjustly
but when you do
this is a gracious thing
when mindful of God
one endures sorrows
while suffering unjustly
I mean obviously
I can't go through
all the professions
but maybe just
one more example
if you're in medicine
right
the temptation
frequently
is because
it's a social service work
it's good work
and you could do
so much tangible
good for people's lives
there's a huge temptation
to idolize it
right
just like pastoral ministry
to idolize the work
and say that
this is what defines me
this is who I am
and to give all of your life
dedicated to that
so that you're basically
worked
run down to the ground
right
and when you are serving
so
you know
working so hard
and serving so well
and people
are not responsive
which often happens
in the medical profession
and in pastoral ministry
when people are not
grateful for the service
you're providing
when people are
actually rude towards you
right
then people in the medical profession
can become really cynical
right
because their pride
is hurt in that
and they
I don't deserve any of this
why are you treating me this way
all I'm doing is providing
this good and service for you
and only when you have
the gospel
the fact that Christ
is the one that redeems us
and saves us from sin
and that the sin
is at the root of all of these
interactions with people
and also
the gospel grounds
our identity
so remember that
we're not first and foremost
a doctor
or a nurse
or a pastor
but that I'm first and foremost
a Christian
that I belong to God
then we can have
a proper perspective
on work
have a proper life
work balance
and provide holistic care
for people
and you can suffer
for doing good
in the workplace
in that way as well
right
and we know
I mean
the spirit
the soul
and body
are intricately related
right
and often things like
stress
anxiety
or false beliefs
are related to how people
become ill
like physically as well
and so in order to provide
holistic care
then you might be
more emotionally invested
in your clients
or patients
and that could lead to
professional consequences
as well
right
when they want you to keep
a clinical distance
so that you can be more efficient
you're caring
you're investing in people
pouring into people
but when you suffer
in this way
this is a gracious thing
he says
when mindful of God
one endures sorrows
while suffering unjustly
so these are just
few sketches
and I hope
that you wrestle
with the idea
what does it look like
as a Christian
to do good
while suffering
at my workplace
because God says
serve him
God calls to serve him
in the workplace
by suffering
while doing good
and this is a high call
we recognize this
how can we possibly
do that
and we have
exactly a blueprint
for that
in verses 21 to 25
because what enables us
to suffer
while doing good
is the fact that
Christ suffered
for us
look at verse 21
it says
for to this
you have been called
because Christ
also suffered
for you
leaving you an example
so that you might
follow in his steps
and the word
example
is a really cool word
actually that
is used
if you guys have seen
kind of a pattern
of the alphabet
that you kind of
put on paper
put over paper
and then you trace
that's how kids
first learn to write
the alphabet
you guys know
what I'm talking about
so it's a word
that's used to refer
to something like that
so it's actually
a much stronger word
than simply an example
oh Christ is
one of your examples
no Christ is
the blueprint
he's the paradigm
by which we ought
to live as believers
in the workplace
and to do good
while suffering
and in order to
demonstrate that
he goes to quote
Isaiah 53
he uses the language
of Isaiah 53
but follows the
narrative order
in Mark's gospel
of Jesus' suffering
so he notes
let me just read
verse 22 to 23
he committed no sin
neither was deceit
found in his mouth
when he was reviled
he did not revile
in return
when he suffered
he did not threaten
but continued
entrusting himself
to him
who judges
justly
and we see this
in the passion narrative
in the gospel of Mark
in Mark 14 65
it says
some began to spit
on Christ
and to cover his face
and to strike him
saying to him
prophesy
and the guards
received him
with blows
chapter 15
18 to 19
it says
the soldiers
salute him
in mockery
hail king of the Jews
and they were
striking him
in his head
and with a reed
and a spitting on him
and kneeling down
in homage to him
in mockery of Christ
but Jesus does not
revile in return
or answer back
or threaten
instead it says
in Mark 14 61
he remained silent
and made no answer
if anyone could have
made an answer
he could have
he was the son of God
he was the king
he committed
no sin
every single human being
that's ever lived
had committed sin
they deserved
some blame
there was some deceit
in them
but in Christ
there was no sin
there was no deceit
found in his mouth
but he didn't answer
and why?
because it says
he was entrusting himself
to him
who judges
justly
if you
kind of think
for a moment
about this
we have a
as human beings
we have a very
deeply ingrained
habit of speaking up
for ourselves
don't we?
when we're criticized
when we're slighted
we are our best advocates
we speak up for ourselves
we defend ourselves
because we have learned
from experience
from living in this world
that if we don't
no one else will
that if we don't
assert ourselves
if we don't advocate
for ourselves
if we don't defend
for ourselves
that we will become
victims of injustice
because that's the kind
of world we live in
but in God's economy
in light of God's
ultimate justice
he says
Peter says
we don't have
to defend ourselves
because God's
justice is perfect
and he is supremely
worthy of our trust
we can entrust
ourselves to him
who judges
justly
and there's
one more
perhaps even more
important reason
that Christ
doesn't speak
when reviled
verse 24
look at it with me
tells us
Christ himself
bore our sins
in his body
on the tree
that we might
die to sin
and live
to righteousness
by his wounds
you have
been healed
the fact that
Jesus bore our sins
in his body
on the tree
is a reference
to Deuteronomy 21
23
which says
that those
who are hung
on a tree
are cursed
by God
so Jesus
died on a tree
he was crucified
on a cross
because he was
bearing the curse
that we deserved
he was cursed
on our behalf
so that we could
bear his blessing
Jesus bore our sins
in his body
it says
so that we might
bear his righteousness
the perfectly
righteous life
that he lived
it says
Jesus bore our wounds
so that we might
be healed
it says
in this passage
in order to return
us
the straying sheep
back to God
to return us
to him
he became
the slaughtered
sheep
and he died
on the cross
and if you guys
I don't know if you guys
know this
but the cross
was a punishment
that Romans
never had to experience
because they reserved
that punishment
only for slaves
and for people
who were not
Roman citizens
so Christ
our king
died the death
of a slave
he was the ultimate
suffering servant
so we can now
have the blueprint
to be suffering
witnesses
so we can now
be the slaves
of God
and
if you're not
a believer
with us today
or if you're just
hearing this message
online
I want to ask you
and invite you
entrust yourself
to this God
who judges
justly
because the only
way we could
follow in the
footsteps
and to do
truly do good
in our workplace
in all that we do
only way we can
have the spiritual
resources to
endure unjust
suffering
while doing good
is when we
follow in the
footsteps of this
Christ
is when we are
indwelled by the
spirit of this
Christ
and we have
the Christ
who indwelled
through the spirit
living through us
and in us
and every believer
I want to exhort you
as I've been doing
throughout this
sermon
serve God
in your workplace
by suffering
while doing good
just as Christ
suffered for us
and I can assure you
that as you do that
tells us
verse 25
the shepherd
and overseer
of your souls
will be with you
every step of the way
he will not leave you
to suffer alone
with that truth
as you were
thinking about that
and reflecting on that
deal meetings
so
as you were
all
.
for the
part of the
experience
is cutting
like
20
as you
kind of
say
about
in
or
little
text
to
your
body
or
point
to