Your Witness at Work, Part 2a

You know, when someone more powerful than you is present, you have great strength and boldness, don't you? I was thinking today in my office. Of an illustration about this. And when I was in fourth grade, we lived in Tope, Kansas. And I was outside, and a young man and I happened to get into a little bit of an argument. He was three years older than me. I know that because he was the same age as my sister. Because my sister is three years older than me. And we begin to get into this argument. And as I looked over his shoulder, I saw my sister standing in the doorway of my home.

And all of a sudden, I became much stronger in my defiance against this man. Or boy, I guess I should say, you know. And I stood against him, and I told him he was wrong because he was cheating. And I wasn't going to let him cheat in the game. And the more I saw the silhouette of my sister there in the doorway, the more bold I became. And I wasn't going to back down. And I pointed my finger at him. I told him he was wrong. You know what he did? Bam! He smacked me right in the jaw. Knocked me right down on the ground.

No sooner than he smacked me in my jaw, my sister. Bolted out of the doorway, jumped on top of this kid, and began to beat him unmercilessly. Unmercifully. She beat on him and he got up and ran away and she chased him down the road. She jumped on him again and just began to beat on him. I'm like, yeah, Julie, go, girl, you go. You beat on him. It's great. You know, I'm saying, this is great. I wasn't afraid. Because my sister, who was bigger than me, and stronger than me, and faster than me, was right there.

And you know what? We as believers have the Lord God of the universe always present with us. We should never be afraid of anything. The omnipresence of God and the omniscience of God and the omnipotence of God, the all-powerful one who knows all is right there with me. What have I to fear? So I respect my employer. I honor him, even though he treats me unjustly. Even though others around get benefits that I don't get. Even though the things that he says to me in the meeting room with everybody around there is so degrading and just Is against everything I stand for.

My God's present. He's in control. And vengeance is his. It's not mine. And know that God is not only pleased with us, God is not only present with us, but God is actually protecting us. Look what it says down in verse number 25. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the shepherd and the guardian of your souls. He's our shepherd. The shepherd is the protector of the sheep. The shepherd is the provider of the sheep. It portrays his ceaseless vigilance. To protect those that are his.

Peter is affirming the deity of Christ, right? Psalm 23, the great Jehovah, God of the universe, the Lord is my shepherd, right? And Peter says that Jesus Christ is the shepherd, the guardian of your soul. He's the protector of your life. Now, think about it this way. I don't know if you know much about sheep, but sheep are pretty much defenseless. They can't do anything. Most animals have a built-in mechanism for defense, but sheep, they don't have that. Most animals have sharp claws, teeth, spe, the ability to hide, to camouflage themselves.

keenness of smell, sight, or hearing, great strength. Sheep have none of that. None. In fact, they're rather awkward. They're weak. They're ignorant. They have tiny hoofs. They are extremely, extremely. Slow. Look at her.

Run away from anybody. They can't even growl at you. My three-year-old son. Can scare most animals away, but a sheep cannot scare anything away. They don't even have a growl. They can't even yell at you. They don't do anything. Sheep need a shepherd. And sheep act best when the shepherd is around them, protecting them, guiding them, watching over them, for there is their security. And Jesus Christ is the over, the shepherd, the guardian of our soul. You know, sheep are easily frightened. They scare really easy.

But when the shepherd's there, he calms them. He soothes them. So for us who are sheep, We are protected and provided for by the guardian, the shepherd of our souls, because that's what he does. That's how he functions. That's why Christ says that he was the chief shepherd, that he him was the door.

And those who enter in by him go in and out and find green pasture because he provides and protects for his own. Psalm 100, verse number 3 says, We are his people, and we are the sheep of his pasture. We move from the exhortation to the motivation to the illustration. There has to be some illustration about this. There's got to be some way for us to get it. And the only way Peter can help us get it is by using an illustration of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. So he uses the illustration and points out four aspects of the life of Christ that helps us understand how this actually happened in his life.

He says this: You have been called for this purpose, verse 21, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps. Here's your example. Here's your pattern. Peter says, I'm not the guy you're to follow, I'm not the illustration. He says, the ultimate illustration is Jesus Christ him, the guardian of our souls. And that's the pattern you're to follow. There's the one you're to mark your life after. And let me reiterate once again to you that the whole realm of Christianity is to be a life that follows the life of Christ.

Yes, there are people we are to emulate. As Paul said, as I follow Christ, follow me. Implied in that is that if I'm not following Christ, make sure you don't follow me. Because the issue in Christianity is to live the life of Christ. It's not to live the life of your elder or the life of your pastor or the life of your Sunday school teacher or the life of your mother or the life of your father. It's to live the life of Christ. And so he says, here's the illustration. This is how it works. He is the pattern, he is the one that we put our lives over, and we are to trace our lives after his life.

Follow in his steps. He says this, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. Now, Peter goes all the way back to the book of Isaiah. So if you've got your Bible, turn back to Isaiah 53 for a moment. Verse number 9. Peter says he committed no sin. Isaiah 53, verse number 9 says His grave was a sign with wicked men, yet he was with a rich man in his death, because he had done no violence. Now, what does that mean? Peter says he committed no sin. Isaiah says he committed no violence.

The Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Old Testament, understand that the word violence is lawlessness. He never violated the law of God. He never went against the law of God. Peter, knowing that, translates it properly when he says he committed no sin. He never violated God's law. He never transgressed God's law. Why? Because he is the Son of Man. All sin is lawlessness, as John says in 1 John 3, verse number 4. And Peter says, in spite of all the unjust treatment, That the Lord Jesus would face.

He endured. He committed no sin. In fact, he says, nor was there any deceit found in his mouth. Which adds to the fact that he was perfectly sinless externally as well as internally. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth Speaks, right? Deceit, referring to that which is deceptive or any kind of slander or innuendo. James says in James 3, verse number 2, if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is the perfect man. That's because the mouth speaks from what's in the heart. Peter says, Here was our Lord.

Who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in his mouth. He went through his entire ministry without sinning, because he couldn't sin. He went through his whole ministry without uttering a word that would slander another, that would speak against another. Luke 23, 41, the thief on the cross said, We indeed suffer justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds. But this man Jesus has done what? Nothing wrong. 2 Corinthians 5, 2, he knew no sin. Hebrews 4:1, he was tempted in all things, yet without sin.

Hebrews 7:2 Our high priest is holy, innocent, undefiled, separate from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. 1 Peter 3, verse number 18, Christ died for our sins once for all, the just for the unjust. There was no sin in him. The point being is that, look, here is your illustration: no transgression. None. No sin. An unsubmissive spirit is a transgression. An unwillingness to submit is a transgression. Against the law of God. And Christ becomes the illustration. Number one, no transgression.

He moves from there and says, Okay, now not only no transgression, no retaliation. Verse 23, and while being reviled. He did not revile in return. No transgression, no retaliation. He never got back at these people. He never retaliated against them. Isaiah 5, verse number 7 says, He was oppressed and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth, like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that is silent before the ch. So he did not open his mouth. Mouth, though under constant provocation, constant beatings, constant lies, he never spoke a word.

Now listen, that's our illustration. That's our example. That's our pattern. Because boy, we want to retaliate. We want to defend ourselves. We want to make sure that that person isn't right and we prove him wrong. Listen, everybody against Christ was wrong, but he had nothing to prove because he was right. Listen, when you're right, nothing prove you're right. You're right. And you see, Christ was righteous and true and holy. And there was not only no transgression, there was no retaliation. I think about that.

Whenever we go to Israel, we walk into the judgment hall there in Gabbatha. And you walk on the stones that were there some 2,000 years ago. You know that because you've heard me talk about this, the king's game that's etch in the stone. Which the soldiers would play when they would when they mock the prisoner. And we go into this room, we stand there, and the ceiling is really low. And you sit on that cobblestone and you look at that circle there where the king's game is played with the dice and as they would roll the dice and determine which individual, which soldier would beat on the prisoner next.

It's one of the most moving scenes in Israel. One of the most unbelievable places. Gogath is a moving place. The Garden of Tombs is a moving place. But boy, when you sit in that arena of Gabbatha, the judgment hall, where our Lord him sat and was judged by unjust men. And the crown of thorns was thrust upon his head, and he was beaten unmercifully, having already been beaten at Caiaphas' house. There was no retaliation. None. How many of us can say that? Remember the Apostle Paul, Acts 23, when Anan ordered him to be struck on the mouth?

When he was struck in the mouth, he immediately spoke against Ananias. He said, God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall. Go get a Paul. Wah! Wah! And what happened? Next verse, verse 4. He immediately apologized. He was wrong. You can't speak against the high priest. You can't speak against those in authority. You can't do that. And that's what he did. And it was that sinful urge to say, Don't treat me that way. You can't do that to me. Do you know who I am? I'm the Apostle Paul. And we tend to think of ourselves that way, don't we?

I have dignity. I have rights. I'm an honorable person. Yet the Son of Man, perfectly sinless, no retaliation. Because he said, vengeance is mine. I will repay. Oh, there's coming a day. But he is the one who retaliates. No transgression, no retaliation. Listen, no int. Listen to what it says. While suffering, he uttered no threat. Wow. How many times I tell you what I'm going to do? If you do that to me one more time, I am going to tell you right now that this is what I'm going to do to you. I'm going to sue you.

I'm going take you to I'm going do whatever I can to you. I going to tear you down. We want to intimidate the opponent, don't we? We love the realm of intimidation. Get the upper hand. To get the last word in. You ever been in a fight with your wife where you got to get the last word in? And then she gets it in. Oh man, you got to think of something else to get back. To get that last word in, to intimidate him. Christ made no threats. None. As he pounded the nails into his hands, he could have said, I'm coming back.

I'm coming back. And when I come back, you're going be the first one I'm going to get. He didn't do that though, did he? What did he say? Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing. See, that's the pattern. That's the illustration. And you're going to say, well, who can do that? He's God, of course he can. You can't expect me to live that way. Sure, you can. Because Peter said he's the example. You're to follow in his steps. You do what he did. No transgression. No retaliation. No int.

Listen to this. This is a great word. But let me read it to you. But he kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. Here it is. No transgression, no retaliation, no intimidation, but ob. Oblation. What's that? That's the willingness to offer your life as a sacrifice and to surrender your life. Oblation. Isn't that great word? That's what Jesus did, right? He kept entrusting him to the one who judges righteously. What did he say on the cross? Into thy hands I commit my spirit. Christ kept committing himself to the righteous judge, to the one who was his father in heaven.

That's the pattern. To sacrifice your life, to surrender your life into the care and trust of the almighty creator of the universe. That is the illustration. Kept entr himself, parody me, which means to hand over to someone else for safekeeping. What better person can you hand yourself over to than the shepherd and guardian of your soul for safekeeping? You see, we retaliate, we intimidate. Why? Because we are fearful of losing something. We are fearful of not making it. And the shepherd of our souls, the guardian of our souls, protects us, watches over us.

And expects us to entrust ourselves to Him. In fact, we'll get to it in a few months. 1 Peter 4:19. Therefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. Same thing. If you're suffering according to the will of God, listen, just commit yourself to God and keep on doing what is right. Because God will deal with your enemy. Lastly. Our summation. I want to give you one verse and then our victory. Here's the verse. Ready? Verse 24, the only one we haven't covered yet.

And he him bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. You're saying, how can I do this? How can I go through a life in my workplace without transgressing the law of God? Without retaliating against those who come against me, without trying to intimidate those people who try to intimidate me. How do I go and offer myself up as a sacrifice to God and give myself to Him and entrust my soul to Him? How can you do that? There's only one way. And that's one verse.

And it's the reason Christ died. Why did he die on the tree? He died so that you would no longer live to sin, but to righteousness. That's why he died. The word that's used for die is used only one time in the Bible. Did you know that? And here it is. Apog, which means, very simply, to depart. To be missing, to cease existing, to be away from Christ took your place on the cross. So, sin would cease to reign in your bodies. Christ took your place on the cross. So that sin would depart from your life and be the master over you.

That's why he died. That's the verse. How can I do this? Very simply, Christ died that you might die to sin and live to righteousness, live his way. That's why he died. Peter says, This is why the illustration is used because this one. Who lived the impeccable life to give you the illustration is the one who died for you so you could live like him. It's a supernatural life. Empowered by the Spirit of God, that you might honor and glorify his great name. That's why the Bible says: if any man be in Christ, he's a new creation.

Old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new. Why? Because you died to sin, that you might live to righteousness. That's the verse. What's the victory? Let me read it to you.

And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of us Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night. And they over him, that is Satan, because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life, even to death. In the book of Revelation, when Satan is cast out of heaven, the accuser of the brethren, the one who slanders you, The one who speaks against you, the one who verbally abuses you day and night before the throne of God, is finally cast out of heaven, and all those people who died during the tribulation were able to overcome him.

How? By the blood of the Lamb. That's how. It's because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. That's our victory. We are the overcomers. How can we overcome the abuse? How can we overcome the intimidation? How can we overcome those people who speak against us? How do we overcome those who are completely against us? By the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord. The blood of Jesus Christ, the cleansing blood of Christ, causes you to speak for God and stand for God. It does. That's what he says.

The blood of the Lamb gave them the word of a testimony, so much so that they didn't even love their own li. Now you think about that. We go to work. Why do we retaliate? Because we love our own lives. Why do we intimidate? Because we love our own lives. Why do we transgress the law of God? Because we love our own lives. If you want to overcome all that, it's through the blood of Jesus Christ, who causes us through the word of our testimony. Not to even love our lives, but to love his life and be, as we said earlier, an oblation, a sacrifice, a surrendering to the God of the universe that he might be pleased.

With us. That, my friend, is your witness at work. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for this great day. A day that, Lord, we can look into the Word of God and be challenged. I pray for each man and woman in this room tonight, those who one day will listen by radio and on tape, that Lord, they would take the Word of the Lord with them. Stand boldly for you tomorrow in the marketplace. Live in the light of your glory and your soon return and give praise to your wonderful name. That others would see that Jesus Christ reigns supreme.

In their lives. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.