April 8, 2025 • 54 mins
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Standing firm in a world that increasingly rejects Christian values requires more than passive faith—it demands the mindset of a spiritual warrior. Drawing from 1 Peter 2, we explore what it means to live as "exiles and sojourners" in a culture that views biblical conviction with growing hostility.
The chapter serves as a comprehensive field manual for believers navigating modern challenges. Peter doesn't mince words: there's a war raging both within our hearts and in the world around us. We examine five critical dimensions of the Christian warrior's life: purging internal sin, understanding our identity as living stones built upon Christ, maintaining honorable conduct among critics, balancing submission to authority with obedience to God's higher law, and enduring suffering with Christ-like dignity.
One particularly relevant section addresses the often-misunderstood concept of Christian submission to governing authorities. While we respect legitimate authority, Peter's teaching doesn't demand blind compliance with directives that violate God's commands. Through biblical examples from Daniel to the apostles, we discover a pattern of respectful yet resolute resistance when necessary.
The world may reject Christ as cornerstone, but God has made Him the foundation of His spiritual house. As we're built together into this living temple, we discover our true identity: "a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession." This profound understanding transforms how we view ourselves and our mission in a hostile world.
Ready to strengthen your spiritual armor? Join us as we explore practical strategies for standing firm when culture pushes back, loving authentically in divisive times, and maintaining unwavering faith through adversity.
Christian Warrior Talk is Sponsored by Trident Shield, your trusted ally in violence preparedness. Trident Shield helps safeguard your loved ones with expert training and consulting. Trident Shield, defending faith through empowered preparedness because together, we save lives."
Welcome to Christian Warrior Mission: the ministry where Christian warriors are forged, equipped, and united for the battles of life and faith. Our channel is dedicated to empowering you to stand firm, advance the line, and claim victory for Christ’s Kingdom. We offer two powerful streams of content:
Christian Warrior Talk: Join us for a dynamic fellowship show where every episode challenges you to fight three essential battles:
Heart Alignment: Begin with a prayer of gratitude and humility, aligning your heart with the Lord.
Relational Pursuit: Deepen your relationship with Jesus by studying His Word—one chapter at a time—and through prayer.
Fellowship & Accountability: Build strong, iron-sharpening relationships as we invest in one another’s growth.
Centered on the Five Pillars: Faith, Family, Fitness, Fundamentals, and Finances, our discussions span Scripture, discipleship, tactical preparedness, self-defense, homesteading, and more.
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Nehemiah 4:14
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Happy Lord's Day to you.
Welcome to Christian WarriorMission, a home church,
community, ministry and farmthat forges Christian Warriors
for today's challenges.
Announcements our first Men'sFellowship Fire will be Friday,
march 21st, which is this Friday, coming up at 7 pm Up at
Warriors Rest Fire Pet.
Please RSVP online so we knowif it's just going to be me.
(00:21):
It may be just me, which wouldgive me some time alone with the
Lord, but I don't think so.
But I would love to get upthere, you know, hang out and
fellowship.
No heavy lifting on the agenda,just talking about what we want
to do as a men's community andas a group of Christian warriors
on preparing, supporting oneanother, trainings, coming up
(00:45):
and seeing where everyone's at,seeing if there's any fires we
need to put out in anyone's life, if anyone needs help, that
type of stuff.
So again, hope to see you there.
Chris and I talked to nothappen on Wednesday.
It seems like the world isconspiring to make that not
happen, but we're going to giveit a shot again.
(01:06):
This week.
Lauren and I are going to talkabout some things.
We started a new forging groupand we changed some things
within the community.
So the Facebook all forginggroup is not just a community
group for people to postwhatever they want in there.
You know just, you knowfavorite restaurants, things
(01:27):
they're struggling with prayerrequests, everything that you
could ever want to talk about inthere.
Fine, and then we're doing amore private, only for people in
the forging group, so thatpeople will, when they're
sharing their vulnerabilities,they're not putting them on
blast, right?
We want people to be honest andnot just put struggle today.
(01:50):
We want to know what westruggle with today.
We're also considering sometype of buy-in to make sure that
people do it.
So again, I'm trying to figureout what it is.
And it would be refundable ifyou make it to the end.
So, for example, I'll just makea number.
Let's say we have 10 people whogo into the forging and they
all put $100 in the kitty.
(02:12):
We'll say, in the bank, whenthey finish their 90-day
challenge, they get their $100back.
If they don't, it stays in thekitty, just some type of added
like skin in the game to makesure you're actually going to do
it.
And I don't know what thatamount is.
We can discuss about thatbefore we launch it.
I do want to give a shout outto Brandy hip, who is right now,
(02:33):
I think, on day 63, 64 of thechallenge and I'm really proud
of him.
He's been doing it in spite ofmy failings.
So, brandy, you know, keepgoing at it, don't stop, hit
your 90.
And we're going to.
We'll be right there waiting tostart it all over again and
hopefully this time, you know,because this is faith, family,
fitness, finances, fellowshipDid you get them All right?
(02:55):
Good job.
My daughter the spider squasher.
I have trained her well.
Lauren and I have differingphilosophies on spiders.
(03:22):
In my opinion, the only goodspider is a dead spider.
Lauren is one with nature,creature of God, creature of God
that can live away from myhouse, which is why my son with
autism our son with autism hasemotional scars from going to
the camp in Maine and all thespider webs around that.
He doesn't remember the tubing,he doesn't remember all the fun
(03:44):
.
All he remembers is the wholecabin being covered in
spiderwebs all over the place,because nature, anyways, so it
is.
I want to keep these short, um,but there's two things I have to
talk about, um.
One is the christ is kingcontroversy that you guys might
(04:06):
be hearing out there, or fauxcontroversy out there.
For some reason there has beena bunch of people who are very
broken and are anti-Semitic anduse language that we shouldn't
(04:29):
be using, and they have graftedon to using Christ as king is
kind of like a dig at Jews.
The way I stand on this.
Is Christ king or not, he'sking.
So whoever proclaims it, Idon't care If every atheist in
the world was screaming Christis king, glory to God, I don't
(04:49):
care, right.
So I'm not going to letsomebody steal our title on that
.
And here's the truth of it.
Christ is king is a spear inthe heart of every false
religion.
It's meant to be.
It's meant to be the mostoffensive thing known to man,
which God said it was going tobe.
So I'm not surprised whenpeople get their feathers rough
(05:12):
when we say Christ is King,because what that means is your
God is not right, which is thetruth, okay.
So again, I don't support thevile things coming out of their
mouths and all that stuff, butI'm not going to let them take
away and hijack our Lord andSavior.
So that's that.
And just because you say Christis King, as we know, faith
(05:36):
without works is dead right.
So words don't mean anythingunless you have action and fruit
behind it.
So when you see somebody onlinewho's reclaiming Christ as king
, look at their fruit, okay.
There's very few times in lifewhere people will take off their
mask and show you who they are.
For some reason, that appearsto be what people like to do on
(05:56):
social media when they show youand tell you what they are.
If they're showing you thatthey're wicked or broken or
wolves in sheep's clothing, takethem at their word from it and
move on.
Right.
Don't move on to a sheep that'slost.
Basically, what's happened?
You're out there, you're ashepherd, right.
You're walking along the woodsor in the hills and all of a
(06:17):
sudden, you see somebody wholooks like a sheep.
You go up.
It's a wolf in sheep's clothing.
What do you do?
You beat it on the side of thehead and you go and you look for
the good sheep that are outthere that are worth saving.
It's not hard, it's notcomplicated.
Can we stop fighting overstupid stuff online?
Okay, the next thing is there'sa new series out on Amazon
called King David.
You know it's made in the samevein as the chosen and all these
(06:41):
things.
And, of course, you have ourfundamentalist Christians, which
I consider myself a version ofmeaning a strong, traditional
Christian who can't have nicethings.
It's not good enough.
So they would rather you watchJohn Wick or what other stuff on
(07:01):
there than watch God-inspiredart.
It is never meant to be theBible, it is just meant to be
you know art.
Okay, it's like a picture.
You look at it.
Oh, that's beautiful.
It may make you think, what'sit do?
It drives you to the Bible.
Go to the Bible and verify whatyou see there, which means
people are spending more time inthe Bible.
(07:21):
The Chosen, david, the TenCommandments all these things
are not meant to be the Bible.
They are meant to inspirepeople to get into the Word.
So please look at the fullequation.
One plus one is two, right,it's not that hard.
Trying to say that people aretrying to take you know the
Chosen and make it the Bible.
(07:43):
No, but here's what I do knowthe Chosen has led more people
to God than any pastor on theface of this earth.
Okay, god can use anything tocall them home.
So let's have nice things.
Let's not be ridiculous, let'snot.
There's so many vile things weall watch.
(08:03):
Watching something that has abiblical flavor or light or spin
on it, I don't have a problemwith.
Okay, now let's get into this.
I've got a ton ton, ton, ton,ton ton to unpack.
I think you guys are going tolike this.
Unpack is not the right word,but I hope that you're going to
(08:26):
get a lot out of this.
Sermon Peter.
Every chapter of 1 Peter islike a manual for some part of
your life, and there's a lothere.
Heavenly Father, lord, we thankyou.
We thank you for your word, wethank you for your Sabbath, we
thank you for your creation, wethank you for your Son.
Lord, help us be grateful forall the things.
(08:48):
Lord, when we are not in pain,we are often ungrateful for not
being in pain.
And then, when we're in pain,boy, do we get grateful when
we're not in pain anymore.
Lord, help us not have to feelpain, to know that not having it
is a blessing.
Not having tragedy in our lifeis a blessing.
(09:10):
Lord, every moment of peace andjoy we have is a gift from you
and is fruit of you, fruit ofthe Spirit.
So help us to always focus onthe blessings we have.
Help us to never gripe aboutthe trials that we're going
through.
I don't know if you can hear myson over there.
(09:33):
But he's over there saying thisas he's eating a pen.
I think I'm not sure what he'seating.
Is that the touchless pen?
Okay, all right, just don't lethim break the one thing that
writes on remarkable.
Okay, thank you Back intopraying, lord.
Sorry, you know we have children, small children, here, and
sometimes we have to stop themfrom committing things.
(09:54):
So, lord, thank you again forthe gift of children and thank
you for the patience that theybring.
Lord, we pray that every wordthat we say today would be of
you, by you, for you, throughyou, and we pray that this would
please you and it would honoryou.
May we proclaim you with everybreath of our lungs and may we
(10:16):
serve you with every beat of ourhearts.
In Jesus' name we pray amen.
All right, for those of you whodon't know how to pray, the
simplest prayer is the honestone is Get humble, get on your
knees, get before God, getgrateful, and then start talking
to your Heavenly Father withrespect and awe and very
trembling.
And then, if you need more ofan example, the Bible will give
(10:37):
us one In Matthew 6, 9-13, whenthe disciples asked him how we
should pray, this is how Jesussaid Our Father, which art in
heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth as itis in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors, andlead us not into temptation but
deliver us from evil, for thineis the kingdom and the power and
(10:58):
the glory forever.
Amen.
If you do that every day, justthat prayer right there, you
would be covered on everything,because Jesus is the best prayer
in the history of praying.
So 1 Peter 1 review, and thenwe'll get into 2.
In our last sermon on 1 Peter 1,we explained several
(11:20):
foundational themes that set thestage for the rest of the
letter.
One living hope in Christ.
We emphasize how our hope issecured in the resurrection of
Jesus.
This hope isn't wishfulthinking.
It is confident assurancerooted in God's unchanging
promise.
Two a call to holiness.
God commands us to be holybecause he is holy.
Holiness is not an abstractconcept.
(11:41):
It is a lifestyle marked byseparation from sin and devotion
to the Lord.
The precious blood of Christ.
Our redemption was purchasednot with perishable things like
silver and gold, but with themost precious thing to ever
exist the spotless blood ofJesus.
This underscores the infinitevalue of our salvation, that God
(12:03):
himself would come down andsuffer that bear his own wrath
for us.
It shows you how important yoursalvation is and why the devil
works so hard to steal yoursalvation.
And lastly, faith and hope inGod.
We affirm that our entireChristian life, our faith, our
perseverance, our final destinystands upon God's faithfulness
(12:27):
and on our own strength.
I'm sorry, two more.
Sorry, it was a new pick.
I'm using a different format.
I'm using a Word document nowinstead of a notebook.
So, loving one another from apure heart, true saving faith,
produces real love for fellowbelievers.
Peter highlights brotherly loveas a hallmark of genuine
spiritual transformation.
(12:48):
And lastly, the enduring wordof God.
We conclude it by celebratingScripture's permanence compared
to our fleeting earthly lives.
God's word is our unshakablefoundation, a lasting
every-worldly trend.
This review reminds us that 1Peter 1 roots our identity in
Christ's redemptive work, callsus to holiness and motivates us
(13:10):
to persevere in the trialessential truths that flow
naturally into the commands andexhortation of 1 Peter 2.
So 1 Peter 2 continues Peter'sexhortation from chapter 1 on
holy conduct.
In a word, opposed by God,we're not simply individuals
wandering about.
We're a royal priesthood unitedunder one commander, christ,
(13:32):
the living stone.
Think of this chapter as afailed manual on maintaining
spiritual discipline,understanding our identity and
mission, engaging the culturewith integrity and enduring
suffering like Christ.
As Christian warriors, we mustlearn to balance humility and
submission with bold, unwaveringcourage for the truth.
(13:53):
God does not mince words.
There's a war both inside ourhearts and the world around us.
Failure to heed theseinstructions leads to spiritual
casualties.
So the first thing I want to do,because this starts off.
Therefore, anytime you start achapter and it starts with,
therefore, there's some thingsthat you need to remember from
(14:14):
the previous thing.
So I'm actually going to startin 1 Peter 1, the last paragraph
.
Let's see here, since you have,in obedience to truth, purified
your souls for a love of thebrothers, without hypocrisy,
fervently loving one anotherfrom the heart, for you have
been born again, not ofcorruptible seed, but
(14:39):
incorruptible, that is, throughthe living and enduring word of
God, for all flesh is like grassand its glory like the flower
of grass the grass withers andthe flower falls off, but the
word of the Lord endures forever, and this and this is the word
(14:59):
which was proclaimed to you asgood news.
So now, therefore, therefore,laying aside all malice and all
deceit and hypocrisy, envy andslander.
Okay, the Greek word here is toput away.
Okay, and I'm not going to tryto speak Greek, but it suggests
(15:22):
the way it is looked at isstripping off filthy clothes.
We cannot truly gear up forGod's battles by wearing
tattered rags of sin.
Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envyand slander are
community-destroying sins.
These are not even just sinsthat destroy your own flesh.
These destroy the church of Godand your community.
(15:45):
They corrode unity in thechurch.
Imagine an army where soldierssabotage each other's morale.
Okay, continue on in verse 2.
Like newborn babies longing forpure milk of the word so that
by it you may grow in respectand salvation, this pure
(16:07):
spiritual milk is the word ofGod and the nourishing truth of
the gospel.
A warrior who neglects hisdaily rations is set up for
defeat.
God calls word sweeter alsothan honey.
We aren't just gleaminginformation, we're receiving
(16:27):
life-sustaining power, andthat's from Psalm 19.10.
1 Peter, 2.3, the next verse Ifyou have tasted the kindness of
the Lord, this harkens to Psalm34.8.
We've tasted his goodness andcannot return to the empty fare
of the Lord.
This harkens to Psalm 34.8.
We've tasted his goodness andcannot return to the empty fare
of the world.
Once you have savored primesteak, you can't go back to
(16:49):
moldy bread.
Once you've tasted Christ andthe peace of Christ and the joy
of Christ, you can't go back.
When you go back, if you goback, you were never saved at
all in the first place.
How do we apply these firstthree verses?
Discipline over sloppiness.
If you carry sin, malice, envyand deceit, it's like an
(17:13):
infection that festers andweakens the entire body.
Warriors must address personalsin ruthlessly, Reload daily.
A soldier fighting without ammois in dire straits.
Likewise, no believer thriveswithout a steady reload of
Scripture, continual growth.
(17:33):
The moment you think you'vearrived, you stop drinking the
milk and start weakening.
Warriors are lifelong learnersof Christ.
Tertullian said the soul isnourished by what it feeds on.
If it feeds on godliness, itwill become, or godlessness it
will become godless.
Let it feed on God's word andit will be shaped into his
(17:53):
likeness.
How many of us just take in somuch godlessness through our
entertainment, in all aspects ofour life, and we save Sunday
for 60 minutes, 90 minutes?
What do you think you are?
Do you think you're godly or doyou think you're godless?
Now, going on to verses 4through 10, verse 4, and coming
(18:18):
to him as a living stone whichhas been rejected by man in his
choice and precious in the sightof God.
Christ is a living stone,rejected by man but chosen by
God.
The world scorns Christ'sleadership.
Don't expect applause forholding to biblical truth.
Psalm 118.22 says the stonethat the builders rejected has
(18:41):
become the cornerstone,prophetic fulfillment in Jesus.
The cornerstone in the ancientworld was the most important
stone that you said.
It was the first stone.
It was the stone that, once youchose your cornerstone, it's
how the building was going to goleft right.
The elevation was going to beall set on that.
So when they say thecornerstone, that means everyone
back then was building theirown houses and knew that that
(19:04):
was the most important stone,where you put that sat, where
the rest of the house was goingto be.
And so Christ was thecornerstone that was rejected.
Okay, rejected by who?
By the Jews.
All right, rejected by the Jews.
Continuing on in verse 5.
All right, rejected by the Jews.
Continuing on in verse 5,.
(19:26):
You also, as living stones, arebeing built up as a spiritual
house for a holy priesthood tooffer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through JesusChrist.
Believers aren't random loosestones.
We're built together uponChrist.
Unity matters.
As a holy priesthood, we offerspiritual sacrifices, worship,
(19:48):
intercession, proclaiming thegospel and living righteously
before God and man.
Okay, it is not easy to livethis Christian lifestyle or way
of life I hate the wordlifestyle, way of life.
You are going to die toyourself.
You're going to lose a ton offriends.
You're going to not get invitedto parties, you're not going to
be invited to social events.
(20:08):
People are going to fall awaybecause, oh, you're different.
You're different, which is whywe have to fight so hard for our
own fellowship amongst eachother, because the world is
going to reject us.
Your friend group is going togo from this to this right, and
if you don't find a good church,if you don't find a community
to plug into, you're going to beisolated along, which is
(20:30):
exactly what the enemy wants.
You Don't give up, don't quit.
Verses 6 through 8.
For this is contained inScripture.
Behold, I lay in Zion a choicestone, a precious cornerstone,
talking about Christ, and he whobelieves upon him will not be
put to shame.
This precious value, then, isfor you who believe, but for
(20:53):
those who disbelieve, the stonewhich the builders rejected.
This has become the chiefcornerstone and a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offense.
They stumble because they aredisobedient to the word and to
this stumbling.
They were also appointed.
There's some that's anotherthing of Calvinism that you'll
(21:16):
hear right there.
The Jews were chosen to stumbleover Jesus and to reject Jesus.
Okay, so they stumbled becausethey're disobedient to the word
and to this stumbling.
They were also appointed.
Do with that as you will Honorversus offense.
(21:36):
To us he is precious.
To the rebellious he is astumbling block or a stone of
offense.
That's somebody hitting youwith a stone.
Stand ready for rejection andhostility.
Our job isn't to remodel thestone to fit the world.
Too many churches and too manypeople try to treat Jesus like
(22:01):
he is a used car.
Look at these features.
You're going to have this andyou're going to get this and
this shiny bobble and this andall this.
No, no, no, no, no.
That is why street preacherscan be extremely valuable,
speaking hard truths to peopleto convict the sin in them.
If the sin can be convicted inyou, you can turn back to God
(22:21):
and that's God calling you home.
The whole job of a pastor well,there's a couple jobs, but one
of the primary roles of a job isto offend the sin in you by
exposing God's word to you, byexposing you to God's word and
explaining what that means.
So you don't try to sprinkle inyour own favorite things.
I'm going to choose this.
(22:42):
This is my favorite part.
Oh, that's not my Jesus.
Okay, so they choose one partof Jesus in this chapter and
then another one in this chapterand we'll skip all this and
right here.
And then you have a religion ofone, your own religion, that is
proclaimed nowhere except inyour head, and those are the
sins that you think aren't bad.
So you do them and it's okay.
(23:04):
No, this is the only.
This is the manual foreverything in life.
This is everything you need toknow.
If it isn't in here, it's notworth knowing Right Now.
There's a lot out there.
There's scripture and there'sscience.
There's all that.
God made all that.
It's all part of it.
He created that.
(23:24):
So I'm not saying don't go andbe a scientist, go be a
scientist, go be an engineer, gounderstand.
God made it and understandingis that.
But what I'm saying for livinglife and understanding life and
understanding your strugglesevery day, this is the only
manual for it Verses 9 through10.
But you are a chosen family.
(23:45):
God chose you to be part of hisfamily.
There's always a saying outthere You're born with your
family and you choose yourfriends.
That's not how it is inChristianity.
God chose you in.
You got called in.
You'll know, when you become aChristian you're even going to
lose family members.
I remember growing up in BostonI never met a born again, but
(24:09):
everyone told me to run awayfrom born agains because once
you became born again, they werecrazy and you're never going to
see them again.
It's not that you won't seethem again.
You don't want to be aroundthem because they're light in
your darkness.
You can't look at porn aroundyour Christian friends.
You can't do this.
You can't go to the strip club.
You can't do all that.
That's all you want to do.
(24:30):
What do they want to do?
Real stuff, real stuff.
You are a chosen family, a royalpriesthood.
He's calling each and every oneof us a royal priesthood.
Royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own
(24:51):
possession, so that you mayproclaim the excellence of him,
who has called you out of thedarkness into his marvelous
light, for you once were not apeople, but now you are a people
of God.
You had not received mercy, butnow you have received mercy.
Peter stacks identity uponidentity here, highlighting the
(25:15):
unmerited grace that we don'tdeserve that God bestows.
We were once not a people, nowwe are his.
In Exodus 9, 19.6, it says youshall be to me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation.
This old covenant promise findsits fulfillment in Christ's
(25:36):
church.
Christian warriors, what do wedo with this?
Know your foundation.
Warriors who forget thecornerstone can't stand when the
storm hits.
Christ is the immovable rock.
Embrace the offensive nature ofthe gospel.
Christ is king.
Yes, he is.
Deal with it.
If you're not prepared forhostility, you'll fall at the
(26:00):
moment it arises.
Live out your royal priesthood.
Intercession is a part of yourspiritual warfare.
A warrior prays fervently forthe family, for the family, the
church and the nation.
Offer your daily life as aspiritual sacrifice pleasing to
God.
When I'm going to the gym andI'm working out in the gym now,
(26:21):
I dedicate that workout to God,no matter how bent over I gym
and I'm working out in the gymnow, I dedicate that workout to
God, no matter how bent over Iam when I get in there because
my back is out or my knees arekilling me or any of that.
I am moving step forward and Iam sanctifying my body to be
more the way he made it and theway it aligns with him than with
me wanting to sit on the couch.
(26:41):
And, you know, rest and not bein pain.
You know, once you findsomething, once you're in pain,
it completely changes everythingin your life.
There are brief moments in mylife where I haven't been in
pain, where my back or my kneesor something isn't working and
(27:01):
you don't have to think howyou're going to get to the
kitchen.
You just get to the kitchen.
But when your back is out oryour knees are out, you plan
every step of that and you'remitigating pain the entire way
you're getting there and itbecomes almost a defining
process or a part of the processof everything you're doing.
(27:21):
You know, when you sit up inbed and you go to a level five
on the pain scale and you have ahigh pain tolerance, it changes
everything versus someone whojust gets to roll out of bed.
I know you can whine and youcan complain about it or you can
use it for your ownsanctification.
Right, and that is one of thehardest challenges you have.
(27:43):
As you get older, as your bodybreaks down, as you accrue more
afflictions, you will becomeinherently familiar with
suffering in some form and youwill have to learn to deal with
it.
And you can despair andself-destruct, pour yourself
(28:04):
into drugs or illegal drug foodor other things to escape your
suffering video games,binge-watching TV Because what
you can get in that one positionthat doesn't hurt.
You forget about it and thenyou escape everything.
That's deteriorating becauseyou can't move.
(28:24):
Guilty.
Guilty as charged, okay.
But this suffering is a test.
It is a test is a test how youhandle that.
You know how you handle easydays.
Who cares?
It's an easy day.
An easy day is whatever.
(28:47):
And what you thought was likelast year when lauren almost I
had a bunch of problems before,when Lauren went into labor and
then when they took her back totry to save her life because she
was bleeding out and dying andthey couldn't stop it and I
didn't think I was ever going tosee her again.
Do you think I care one bitabout any problem other than
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Lord, give me back my wife.
I didn't care about anything.
I didn't care if I lived in acardboard box with her.
I didn't care about the cows, Ididn't care about this.
I didn't care.
I just wanted my family back.
How many of us take our familyfor granted and then they're
gone?
And you didn't say what youneed to say.
You didn't make amends.
(29:29):
Suffering is a part of life.
How you deal with it defineswho you are and defines whether
you're a Christian or not.
So your suffering is aspiritual sacrifice to God.
How you deal with that?
When you see a Christianweather cancer like a champ,
they do more for the grace, thekingdom of God, than anyone who
(29:52):
had a healthy life, who didnothing, who never endured that.
They're just like.
How can they?
And then you see the family.
When they pass on theiridentity and their family's
rejoicing that their parent ortheir loved one is in heaven and
is still walking it out Changesthe world.
A Christian hitting the lotterydoesn't do anything Right.
What do we all get Jealousenvious?
(30:13):
Who gets jealous, man?
I wish I had cancer.
No one right.
So John Chrysostom said he isthe stone upon which the house
of our faith rests.
Remove that stone andeverything falls.
Keep firm upon it and we areinvincible.
Hold on to that stone witheverything you've got Verses 11
(30:38):
through 17.
We'll start with 11 here.
Beloved, I urge you, assojourners and exiles, to
abstain from fleshly lusts whichwage war against our soul.
Our flesh most often warsagainst our eternity.
Our flesh wants things of death, of pleasure.
(30:59):
It wants to eat the entire cake.
It wants to watch lustfulthings.
It wants to engage in thingsthat destroy marriages and
relationships.
It wants back before.
I mean, you've got to rememberback before law enforcement.
If you wanted something youcould just go take it, and if
(31:20):
you were bigger, stronger, yougot it.
There were no repercussions.
Your flesh wars against that,and what we have to remember is
that we are sojourners,travelers, in exile.
This world is not our permanenthome.
Your true citizenship is inheaven.
Live accordingly.
Passions of the flesh wage waragainst your soul.
(31:43):
Sin is a suicide bomber in yourown ranks.
Don't coddle it.
Verse 12.
By keeping your conductexcellent among the Gentiles, so
that in the thing which theyslander you as evildoers, they
(32:05):
may, because of your good worksas they observe them, glorify
God in the day of his visitation.
Let me read that again bykeeping your conduct excellent
among the Gentiles, so that, inthe thing which they slander you
as evildoers, they may, becauseof your good works as they
observe them, glorify God in theday of righteousness.
Here they are, they'reforeigners in a foreign land and
(32:26):
they're hated Hated, but that'sa man.
They're good people, right?
I don't like them.
Imagine being a Viking, aViking's polygamous.
They can have whatever theywant, they can go raid, they can
take whatever.
Your neighbor is a Christianand their yard is nice.
They're doing everything.
Everything is good.
They help you when you fall.
You do all these things.
(32:46):
You're like man.
I can't say they're a badneighbor, right?
I don't agree with this andthat.
But man, whatever that God isthat's doing to them really sets
them apart.
The Greek for honorable kalen,if I pronounce that right
suggests beautiful orpraiseworthy behavior.
(33:07):
So it doesn't.
Honorable sounds right, butit's beautiful or praiseworthy
behavior.
Even if they hate your message,let them see your
irreproachable conduct.
Matthew 5.16 resonates here.
Let them see your good worksand glorify God.
Okay, now I'm going to read thispart and then I'm going to
(33:29):
unpack this, because this hasbeen horrifically abused during
COVID, peter 2.13-15, and we'regoing to break this part.
And then I'm going to unpackthis, because this has been
horrifically abused during COVID, peter 2, 13 through 15.
And we're going to break thatdown a little bit.
Then we're going to go through17, and then I'm going to really
dive into it here.
Hold on, this is about to golive.
I'm having.
That's me, my soul.
(33:50):
God doesn't want me talkingabout this thing here.
I'm going to push on through.
Be subject to authority 1 Peter2.13-15.
You can't always get what youwant.
So verse 13 be subject, for thesake of the lord, to every
(34:15):
human institution, whether to aking as the one in authority, or
to governors, as sent by him,for punishment of evildoers and
the praise of those who do good,for such is the will of god
that by doing good you maysilence the ignorant of the
ignorance of foolish men.
Submission, tomission toauthority.
How many of the weak churchesdid we see that closed?
(34:36):
Who quoted 1 Peter, 2, verses13 through 17?
Submit, for the Lord's sake, toevery human institution
Rebellion for rebellion's sake.
There's no place in Christ'slike Rebellion for rebellion's
sake.
Yet we don't obey simplecommands that violate God's law.
(34:57):
We respect the office ofauthority, while always
remembering who is truly king,who's king?
Christ is king.
It's funny that they're tryingto discredit that title.
So 16 and 17.
Act as free people and do notuse your freedom as a covering
(35:19):
for evil, but use it as slavesof God.
Honor all people.
Love the brethren.
Fear God, honor the king.
We're free in Christ, but notfree to sin or disrespect.
True freedom is the ability toobey God joyfully, loving others
sacrificially.
Honor everyone, love thebrotherhood, fear God, honor the
(35:45):
emperor.
The Christian warrior isneither an anarchist nor a
cowardly sycophant.
We walk the narrow road ofrespectful steadfastness.
So after writing this scripture, after writing this sermon, I
had to go back and include thisaddendum resisting evil for
authority.
So bear with me.
We're good In light of 1 Peter,2, 13 through 17,.
(36:10):
Submit to every humaninstitution, for the Lord's sake
.
Some may wonder if Christiansmust always obey rulers, even
when they perpetrate evil.
Through the scripture andchurch history we'll see a vital
balance.
Our ultimate allegiance is toGod.
We hold dual citizenship, inheavens and on earth.
While earthly authoritiescommand what God forbids or
(36:35):
forbid what God commands, wemust obey God rather than men.
That is a no-brainer.
But churches did it.
God told us to gather and theydid not.
Biblical examples of resistanceDaniel, civil disobedience when
told not to pray to God, hebrewmidwives they refused Pharaoh's
(36:59):
commands to kill the Hebrewmale infants which gave us Moses
the apostles.
They continued to preach Jesus'name despite the Sanhedrin
telling them not to, and it costthem all their lives, except
for one.
John Calvin and the magisterialreformers taught that rulers
receive authority from God to dogood If they turn tyrannical.
(37:20):
Lesser magistrates and citizensmay lawfully resist under the
guidance of God's word.
We do not despise authority ingeneral.
We oppose only that whichviolates God's higher law.
Authority in general, we opposeonly that which violates God's
higher law.
So what are some practicalprinciples for us as Christian
(37:40):
warriors?
Respectful disobedience.
Resist evil.
Mandates with humility andprayer, not with hateful
rhetoric or violence forpersonal gain.
Preparedness to suffer.
Sometimes resistance incurslegal or social penalties.
We follow Christ's example.
When reviled, he did not revilein return.
Guard against sin.
We are not anarchists.
(38:01):
We stand for righteousness, notself-willed rebellion.
You are called to resist evil.
You are called to fight backagainst evil.
You are called what is evil?
Things that go against God'sword?
Simple Psalm 37, seven throughnine.
(38:22):
Be still before the Lord andwait patiently for him.
Refrain from anger.
We trust God to bring justice.
In Ephesians 6, 12,.
Our battle is ultimatelyspiritual.
The real enemy is sin and Satan, not merely human institutions,
not merely Okay, that notmerely is huge.
Too many people say our enemyis flesh and blood.
(38:44):
And it's not flesh and blood,it's powers and principalities.
And those powers andprincipalities have puppets.
And those puppets are humans,which are wicked and vile and
evil and do horrible things.
And, yes, we have to engagethem.
We cannot comply with commandsthat defy our Lord.
So we submit to rightfulauthority for God's sake, but
(39:08):
resist any command that wouldmake us sin against God.
This is not a contradiction, itis a faithful obedience to the
highest king.
As Christian warriors, we do sowith spiritual prayer, love and
courage, knowing we stand onunshakable ground, the eternal
rule of our sovereign God.
So guard your heart and guardyour camp.
The biggest threat might not bethe hostile world, but
(39:29):
unrepentant sin.
We allow to remain rooted out.
Live above reproach.
Let your actions refute liesabout your faith.
Let your actions refute liesabout your faith.
Your actions, not your words.
Only your actions refute thelies about Christians.
Christians are cold.
Christians are this.
Christians are that.
Your actions should show.
(39:49):
Otherwise, in a world itchingto discredit Christians, your
consistent integrity is apowerful weapon.
That's why the second you are ahypocrite.
It destroys your ministry.
It destroys your credibility.
Strategic submission we submitto rightful authority so long as
it doesn't force us to sinagainst God.
(40:10):
That stance requiresdiscernment and courage.
Augustine said Obedience tolawful authority is obedience to
God's order, but if thatauthority opposes God's law, we
choose to obey the higher law,ready to suffer the consequences
.
So again now we're going to gothrough verses 18 through 25 and
(40:31):
wrap this up.
Suffering unjustly, followingChrist's example, and I'm going
to read 18 through 20 right nowServants, be subject to your
masters with all fear, not onlyto those who are good and
considerate, but also to thosewho are crooked.
For this finds favor, in thesake of conscience, towards God.
(40:51):
A person bears up under sorrowswhen suffering unrighteously.
So what?
I'll break it down when we getto it.
For what credit is there if,when you sin and are harshly
treated, you endure?
But if, when you do good andsuffer for it, you endure, this
finds favor with God.
This principle applies broadlyEmployees under unfair bosses,
(41:15):
citizens under oppressiveregimes or failing members in
difficult households Enduring injustice, mindful of God, a
gracious thing.
Our response to suffering caneither reflect bitterness or
reflect Christ.
21 through 23,.
Christ is our example.
Four.
To this you have been called,since Christ also suffered for
you.
God is not telling you to dosomething that he didn't already
(41:37):
lead the way on, leaving you anexample that you should follow
in his steps.
Who did no sin, nor was anydeceit found in his mouth.
Who, being reviled was notreviling in return.
While suffering, he wasuttering no threats, but kept
(41:59):
entrusting himself to him whojudges righteously, and even
said Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do.
Christ's suffering as a model.
He committed no sin, yet heendured mocking and the cross.
He did not retaliate, butentrusted himself to he who
judges justly.
There's a powerful lesson inthe absence of retaliation, it's
(42:22):
not weakness, it's strength,under the control of faith and
God's perfect justice.
I also want to put this incontext.
Christ came to be a sacrifice.
He did not come to be conquered.
He did not come to be murdered.
He did not come.
No one murdered him.
They thought they weremurdering him.
Christ came to be the perfectsacrifice for us.
Okay, that's why that happened.
(42:45):
That mission only happens once.
Okay, Now we lay our life downfor Christ, but we are not the
perfect sacrifice for God.
Okay, we sacrifice.
You know parts of our life andour lives to God, but in a
(43:05):
completely different manner.
24 and 25.
He himself bore sins in hisbody on the tree so that, having
died to sin, we might live torighteousness.
By his wounds you are healed,for you were continually
(43:28):
straying like sheep, but now youhave returned to the shepherd
and overseer of your soul.
By his wounds you are healed.
Christ's substitutionaryatonement transforms our entire
view of suffering.
We can endure injusticesbecause our greatest injustice,
sin, has been dealt with at thecross In Hosea 53.5,.
He was pierced for ourtransgressions.
With his wounds we are healed.
(43:49):
This is the anchor for our hopeand ultimate sign of God's love
.
What application do we have asChristian warriors in this
Endure hardship with dignity, awarrior does not whine.
We demonstrate resilience,reading Christ as our example
and trust yourself to God.
We are not naive about evil,but we trust God to right wrongs
(44:10):
in his time.
Our job is faithfulness,preparedness and diligence.
He handles ultimate justice.
Fight the spiritual battle.
We do not wage war withbitterness and violence for
personal gain.
Our weapons are prayer, truthand sacrificial love.
And that sacrificial love canbe kinetic.
(44:30):
Early church father insightwould be Athanasius the cross is
the power of God, for on it wasdisplayed the triumph over
spiritual principalities.
We fight from Christ's victory,not toward our own.
Some reflections form Psalm144.1.
Blessed be the Lord, my rock.
(44:51):
Who trains my hands for war andmy fingers for battle Doesn't
sound like a pacifist for me.
Our hands for war are trainedin God's ways.
The greatest battles arespiritual within our own hearts
and resisting the devil's lies.
Physical readiness can be apart of protecting others, but
it must always be submitted tothe higher spiritual purpose.
(45:11):
If you faint in the day ofadversity and this is Proverbs
24.10, your strength is small.
Christian warriors are calledto perseverance.
We must strengthen ourselves inthe Lord daily so we don't fold
under pressure.
And Ephesians 6.10-18, thearmor of God everyone talks
(45:32):
about.
The armor of God teaches usthat truth, the belt of truth,
the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel, the
shield of faith, the helmet ofsalvation and the sword of the
Spirit are our essential gear.
Each piece is needed to standfirm are our essential gear.
Each piece is needed to standfirm.
(45:53):
1 Peter 2 is a master class ina warrior identity and godly
living.
Under pressure, purge, sin andreload on God's word.
No soldier can fighteffectively without ammo or with
a terrible deadly disease ofwhat Sin?
2.
Remember who you are.
In Christ, you are a livingstone in God's spiritual house,
a holy royal priest who offersyour life to God.
(46:14):
Maintain honor among thenations.
Fight sin within, submit torightful authority without and
let your good work silence falseaccusations.
Four endure suffering withChrist's mindset.
The ultimate warrior king, wonthrough the cross.
Following his footsteps.
(46:35):
And then Psalm 1834, he trainsmy hands for war so that my arms
can bend the bow of bronze.
The God who strengthens yourbody also fortifies your soul.
We must fight with spiritualdiscipline, holiness, unwavering
trust in God's sovereignty,diligence and preparedness.
Tell it like it is.
If you toy with sin, disrespectauthority or cowl from
(47:00):
persecution, you're AWOL fromGod's calling.
If you stand firm on thecornerstone, honor those around
you, suffer well for Christ'ssake.
You fulfill your God-ordainedrole as a Christian warrior, a
light on a hill, a beacon ofhope in this dark world and a
protector of the weak.
Take heart, you're not alone inthis fight.
The same God who made you achosen race and a royal
(47:24):
priesthood stands with you.
He is an unstoppable king whowill ultimately subdue all evil
and reign in perfect justice.
Stand, therefore, stand on theimmovable rock.
Equip yourself with his worddaily, purify your soul,
proclaim his excellencies untilhe returns in glory.
Go forth in confidence, humbledependence, wielding the
(47:50):
spiritual weapons he's given youin the battles ahead.
Go forth in confidence, humbledependence, wielding the
spiritual weapons he's given youin the battles ahead.
So now we get into and we'regoing to do the Lord's Supper.
Okay, this is for baptizedbelievers, and we are called to
(48:39):
judge ourself here, to analyzeourself before we do this.
As it says in 1 Corinthians 11,27-32,.
Whoever, therefore, eats thebread and drinks of the cup of
the Lord, an unworthy man willbe guilty concerning the body
and the blood of the Lord.
Let a person examine himself,then, and so eat of the bread
and drink of the cup.
Let's go ahead and close youreyes.
I want you to look into your ownlife now and see where you're
(49:20):
AWOL in God's army.
Where are you failing?
I want you to repent of that.
I want you to repent ofanything else that you haven't
brought to the Lord.
Ask him to seek out in you anysin that may have been revealed
(49:42):
during this sermon this week,since we last did this or the
last time you've done it, butgive him permission to search
out your heart and expose anysin.
Ask him to Pray for it Now.
Let's remember that this is avictory toast, that God Christ
(50:03):
came down and conquered death,rose from the grave and sits in
heaven now as his churchconquers the world.
Now, as they were eating, jesustook the bread and, after
blessing it, broke it and gaveit to the disciples and said
Take, eat, this is my body.
Go ahead and eat.
And he took a cup.
(50:26):
When he had given it, givingthanks, he gave it to them
saying Drink of it, all of you,for this is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured outfor many, for the goodness of
sins.
Go ahead and drink.
Heavenly Father, lord, we thankyou.
We thank you for your word.
We thank you for the book ofPeter, a manual on how to live.
Lord, help us take today'steaching and apply it to every
(50:49):
aspect of our life.
Help us to ruthlessly searchour own sin and to crush it.
Help us to submit to rightfulleadership, righteous leadership
, and help us to resist theunrighteous, the wicked and the
evil.
Give us the courage to do so.
The wicked and the evil.
(51:12):
Give us the courage to do so.
Lord, I pray a blessing overthis congregation for the week
to come of peace, love and joy.
Lord, protection, I pray thatyou would comfort everyone today
from all their and the weekcoming forward with all their
(51:33):
pains, or to use it in a way tohelp them get closer to you.
I pray for protection for thiscongregation and for the
persecuted church around theworld, for our troops overseas,
our first responders at home andour veterans of yesteryear.
I pray that this world doesn'tgo into World War III.
I pray for our beloved leaders,our righteous leaders, that you
(51:59):
would use them, lord, that yourwill will be done and not
theirs.
Lord, you can use anyone to doyour will and I pray that you
would do that here in America.
And lastly, I pray for ourbeloved America that America
would humble herself, turn fromher sin, hit her knees and seek
your face, and that you wouldsee her and heal her, so that we
(52:23):
could once again be one nationunder God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all.
Now I call this congregation toput on the full armor of God,
strap on the shield, feel theshield of faith, pick up the
sword of the Spirit and toboldly step forward in the
shield wall, locking shields tothe left and right as we march
forward to take ground for yourkingdom, for your glory forever.
Go ahead and stand.
May the Lord bless you and keepyou.
(52:47):
May the Lord make his face toshine upon you and be gracious
to you.
Happy Lord's Day to you.
Welcome to Christian WarriorMission, a home church,
community, ministry and farmthat forges Christian Warriors
for today's challenges.
Announcements our first Men'sFellowship Fire will be Friday,
march 21st, which is this Friday, coming up at 7 pm Up at
Warriors Rest Fire Pet.
Please RSVP online so we knowif it's just going to be me.
(00:21):
It may be just me, which wouldgive me some time alone with the
Lord, but I don't think so.
But I would love to get upthere, you know, hang out and
fellowship.
No heavy lifting on the agenda,just talking about what we want
to do as a men's community andas a group of Christian warriors
on preparing, supporting oneanother, trainings, coming up
(00:45):
and seeing where everyone's at,seeing if there's any fires we
need to put out in anyone's life, if anyone needs help, that
type of stuff.
So again, hope to see you there.
Chris and I talked to nothappen on Wednesday.
It seems like the world isconspiring to make that not
happen, but we're going to giveit a shot again.
(01:06):
This week.
Lauren and I are going to talkabout some things.
We started a new forging groupand we changed some things
within the community.
So the Facebook all forginggroup is not just a community
group for people to postwhatever they want in there.
You know just, you knowfavorite restaurants, things
(01:27):
they're struggling with prayerrequests, everything that you
could ever want to talk about inthere.
Fine, and then we're doing amore private, only for people in
the forging group, so thatpeople will, when they're
sharing their vulnerabilities,they're not putting them on
blast, right?
We want people to be honest andnot just put struggle today.
(01:50):
We want to know what westruggle with today.
We're also considering sometype of buy-in to make sure that
people do it.
So again, I'm trying to figureout what it is.
And it would be refundable ifyou make it to the end.
So, for example, I'll just makea number.
Let's say we have 10 people whogo into the forging and they
all put $100 in the kitty.
(02:12):
We'll say, in the bank, whenthey finish their 90-day
challenge, they get their $100back.
If they don't, it stays in thekitty, just some type of added
like skin in the game to makesure you're actually going to do
it.
And I don't know what thatamount is.
We can discuss about thatbefore we launch it.
I do want to give a shout outto Brandy hip, who is right now,
(02:33):
I think, on day 63, 64 of thechallenge and I'm really proud
of him.
He's been doing it in spite ofmy failings.
So, brandy, you know, keepgoing at it, don't stop, hit
your 90.
And we're going to.
We'll be right there waiting tostart it all over again and
hopefully this time, you know,because this is faith, family,
fitness, finances, fellowshipDid you get them All right?
(02:55):
Good job.
My daughter the spider squasher.
I have trained her well.
Lauren and I have differingphilosophies on spiders.
(03:22):
In my opinion, the only goodspider is a dead spider.
Lauren is one with nature,creature of God, creature of God
that can live away from myhouse, which is why my son with
autism our son with autism hasemotional scars from going to
the camp in Maine and all thespider webs around that.
He doesn't remember the tubing,he doesn't remember all the fun
(03:44):
.
All he remembers is the wholecabin being covered in
spiderwebs all over the place,because nature, anyways, so it
is.
I want to keep these short, um,but there's two things I have to
talk about, um.
One is the christ is kingcontroversy that you guys might
(04:06):
be hearing out there, or fauxcontroversy out there.
For some reason there has beena bunch of people who are very
broken and are anti-Semitic anduse language that we shouldn't
(04:29):
be using, and they have graftedon to using Christ as king is
kind of like a dig at Jews.
The way I stand on this.
Is Christ king or not, he'sking.
So whoever proclaims it, Idon't care If every atheist in
the world was screaming Christis king, glory to God, I don't
(04:49):
care, right.
So I'm not going to letsomebody steal our title on that
.
And here's the truth of it.
Christ is king is a spear inthe heart of every false
religion.
It's meant to be.
It's meant to be the mostoffensive thing known to man,
which God said it was going tobe.
So I'm not surprised whenpeople get their feathers rough
(05:12):
when we say Christ is King,because what that means is your
God is not right, which is thetruth, okay.
So again, I don't support thevile things coming out of their
mouths and all that stuff, butI'm not going to let them take
away and hijack our Lord andSavior.
So that's that.
And just because you say Christis King, as we know, faith
(05:36):
without works is dead right.
So words don't mean anythingunless you have action and fruit
behind it.
So when you see somebody onlinewho's reclaiming Christ as king
, look at their fruit, okay.
There's very few times in lifewhere people will take off their
mask and show you who they are.
For some reason, that appearsto be what people like to do on
(05:56):
social media when they show youand tell you what they are.
If they're showing you thatthey're wicked or broken or
wolves in sheep's clothing, takethem at their word from it and
move on.
Right.
Don't move on to a sheep that'slost.
Basically, what's happened?
You're out there, you're ashepherd, right.
You're walking along the woodsor in the hills and all of a
(06:17):
sudden, you see somebody wholooks like a sheep.
You go up.
It's a wolf in sheep's clothing.
What do you do?
You beat it on the side of thehead and you go and you look for
the good sheep that are outthere that are worth saving.
It's not hard, it's notcomplicated.
Can we stop fighting overstupid stuff online?
Okay, the next thing is there'sa new series out on Amazon
called King David.
You know it's made in the samevein as the chosen and all these
(06:41):
things.
And, of course, you have ourfundamentalist Christians, which
I consider myself a version ofmeaning a strong, traditional
Christian who can't have nicethings.
It's not good enough.
So they would rather you watchJohn Wick or what other stuff on
(07:01):
there than watch God-inspiredart.
It is never meant to be theBible, it is just meant to be
you know art.
Okay, it's like a picture.
You look at it.
Oh, that's beautiful.
It may make you think, what'sit do?
It drives you to the Bible.
Go to the Bible and verify whatyou see there, which means
people are spending more time inthe Bible.
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The Chosen, david, the TenCommandments all these things
are not meant to be the Bible.
They are meant to inspirepeople to get into the Word.
So please look at the fullequation.
One plus one is two, right,it's not that hard.
Trying to say that people aretrying to take you know the
Chosen and make it the Bible.
(07:43):
No, but here's what I do knowthe Chosen has led more people
to God than any pastor on theface of this earth.
Okay, god can use anything tocall them home.
So let's have nice things.
Let's not be ridiculous, let'snot.
There's so many vile things weall watch.
(08:03):
Watching something that has abiblical flavor or light or spin
on it, I don't have a problemwith.
Okay, now let's get into this.
I've got a ton ton, ton, ton,ton ton to unpack.
I think you guys are going tolike this.
Unpack is not the right word,but I hope that you're going to
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get a lot out of this.
Sermon Peter.
Every chapter of 1 Peter islike a manual for some part of
your life, and there's a lothere.
Heavenly Father, lord, we thankyou.
We thank you for your word, wethank you for your Sabbath, we
thank you for your creation, wethank you for your Son.
Lord, help us be grateful forall the things.
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Lord, when we are not in pain,we are often ungrateful for not
being in pain.
And then, when we're in pain,boy, do we get grateful when
we're not in pain anymore.
Lord, help us not have to feelpain, to know that not having it
is a blessing.
Not having tragedy in our lifeis a blessing.
(09:10):
Lord, every moment of peace andjoy we have is a gift from you
and is fruit of you, fruit ofthe Spirit.
So help us to always focus onthe blessings we have.
Help us to never gripe aboutthe trials that we're going
through.
I don't know if you can hear myson over there.
(09:33):
But he's over there saying thisas he's eating a pen.
I think I'm not sure what he'seating.
Is that the touchless pen?
Okay, all right, just don't lethim break the one thing that
writes on remarkable.
Okay, thank you Back intopraying, lord.
Sorry, you know we have children, small children, here, and
sometimes we have to stop themfrom committing things.
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So, lord, thank you again forthe gift of children and thank
you for the patience that theybring.
Lord, we pray that every wordthat we say today would be of
you, by you, for you, throughyou, and we pray that this would
please you and it would honoryou.
May we proclaim you with everybreath of our lungs and may we
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serve you with every beat of ourhearts.
In Jesus' name we pray amen.
All right, for those of you whodon't know how to pray, the
simplest prayer is the honestone is Get humble, get on your
knees, get before God, getgrateful, and then start talking
to your Heavenly Father withrespect and awe and very
trembling.
And then, if you need more ofan example, the Bible will give
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us one In Matthew 6, 9-13, whenthe disciples asked him how we
should pray, this is how Jesussaid Our Father, which art in
heaven.
Hallowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done in earth as itis in heaven.
Give us this day our dailybread and forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors, andlead us not into temptation but
deliver us from evil, for thineis the kingdom and the power and
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the glory forever.
Amen.
If you do that every day, justthat prayer right there, you
would be covered on everything,because Jesus is the best prayer
in the history of praying.
So 1 Peter 1 review, and thenwe'll get into 2.
In our last sermon on 1 Peter 1,we explained several
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foundational themes that set thestage for the rest of the
letter.
One living hope in Christ.
We emphasize how our hope issecured in the resurrection of
Jesus.
This hope isn't wishfulthinking.
It is confident assurancerooted in God's unchanging
promise.
Two a call to holiness.
God commands us to be holybecause he is holy.
Holiness is not an abstractconcept.
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It is a lifestyle marked byseparation from sin and devotion
to the Lord.
The precious blood of Christ.
Our redemption was purchasednot with perishable things like
silver and gold, but with themost precious thing to ever
exist the spotless blood ofJesus.
This underscores the infinitevalue of our salvation, that God
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himself would come down andsuffer that bear his own wrath
for us.
It shows you how important yoursalvation is and why the devil
works so hard to steal yoursalvation.
And lastly, faith and hope inGod.
We affirm that our entireChristian life, our faith, our
perseverance, our final destinystands upon God's faithfulness
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and on our own strength.
I'm sorry, two more.
Sorry, it was a new pick.
I'm using a different format.
I'm using a Word document nowinstead of a notebook.
So, loving one another from apure heart, true saving faith,
produces real love for fellowbelievers.
Peter highlights brotherly loveas a hallmark of genuine
spiritual transformation.
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And lastly, the enduring wordof God.
We conclude it by celebratingScripture's permanence compared
to our fleeting earthly lives.
God's word is our unshakablefoundation, a lasting
every-worldly trend.
This review reminds us that 1Peter 1 roots our identity in
Christ's redemptive work, callsus to holiness and motivates us
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to persevere in the trialessential truths that flow
naturally into the commands andexhortation of 1 Peter 2.
So 1 Peter 2 continues Peter'sexhortation from chapter 1 on
holy conduct.
In a word, opposed by God,we're not simply individuals
wandering about.
We're a royal priesthood unitedunder one commander, christ,
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the living stone.
Think of this chapter as afailed manual on maintaining
spiritual discipline,understanding our identity and
mission, engaging the culturewith integrity and enduring
suffering like Christ.
As Christian warriors, we mustlearn to balance humility and
submission with bold, unwaveringcourage for the truth.
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God does not mince words.
There's a war both inside ourhearts and the world around us.
Failure to heed theseinstructions leads to spiritual
casualties.
So the first thing I want to do,because this starts off.
Therefore, anytime you start achapter and it starts with,
therefore, there's some thingsthat you need to remember from
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the previous thing.
So I'm actually going to startin 1 Peter 1, the last paragraph
.
Let's see here, since you have,in obedience to truth, purified
your souls for a love of thebrothers, without hypocrisy,
fervently loving one anotherfrom the heart, for you have
been born again, not ofcorruptible seed, but
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incorruptible, that is, throughthe living and enduring word of
God, for all flesh is like grassand its glory like the flower
of grass the grass withers andthe flower falls off, but the
word of the Lord endures forever, and this and this is the word
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which was proclaimed to you asgood news.
So now, therefore, therefore,laying aside all malice and all
deceit and hypocrisy, envy andslander.
Okay, the Greek word here is toput away.
Okay, and I'm not going to tryto speak Greek, but it suggests
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the way it is looked at isstripping off filthy clothes.
We cannot truly gear up forGod's battles by wearing
tattered rags of sin.
Malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envyand slander are
community-destroying sins.
These are not even just sinsthat destroy your own flesh.
These destroy the church of Godand your community.
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They corrode unity in thechurch.
Imagine an army where soldierssabotage each other's morale.
Okay, continue on in verse 2.
Like newborn babies longing forpure milk of the word so that
by it you may grow in respectand salvation, this pure
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spiritual milk is the word ofGod and the nourishing truth of
the gospel.
A warrior who neglects hisdaily rations is set up for
defeat.
God calls word sweeter alsothan honey.
We aren't just gleaminginformation, we're receiving
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life-sustaining power, andthat's from Psalm 19.10.
1 Peter, 2.3, the next verse Ifyou have tasted the kindness of
the Lord, this harkens to Psalm34.8.
We've tasted his goodness andcannot return to the empty fare
of the Lord.
This harkens to Psalm 34.8.
We've tasted his goodness andcannot return to the empty fare
of the world.
Once you have savored primesteak, you can't go back to
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moldy bread.
Once you've tasted Christ andthe peace of Christ and the joy
of Christ, you can't go back.
When you go back, if you goback, you were never saved at
all in the first place.
How do we apply these firstthree verses?
Discipline over sloppiness.
If you carry sin, malice, envyand deceit, it's like an
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infection that festers andweakens the entire body.
Warriors must address personalsin ruthlessly, Reload daily.
A soldier fighting without ammois in dire straits.
Likewise, no believer thriveswithout a steady reload of
Scripture, continual growth.
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The moment you think you'vearrived, you stop drinking the
milk and start weakening.
Warriors are lifelong learnersof Christ.
Tertullian said the soul isnourished by what it feeds on.
If it feeds on godliness, itwill become, or godlessness it
will become godless.
Let it feed on God's word andit will be shaped into his
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likeness.
How many of us just take in somuch godlessness through our
entertainment, in all aspects ofour life, and we save Sunday
for 60 minutes, 90 minutes?
What do you think you are?
Do you think you're godly or doyou think you're godless?
Now, going on to verses 4through 10, verse 4, and coming
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to him as a living stone whichhas been rejected by man in his
choice and precious in the sightof God.
Christ is a living stone,rejected by man but chosen by
God.
The world scorns Christ'sleadership.
Don't expect applause forholding to biblical truth.
Psalm 118.22 says the stonethat the builders rejected has
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become the cornerstone,prophetic fulfillment in Jesus.
The cornerstone in the ancientworld was the most important
stone that you said.
It was the first stone.
It was the stone that, once youchose your cornerstone, it's
how the building was going to goleft right.
The elevation was going to beall set on that.
So when they say thecornerstone, that means everyone
back then was building theirown houses and knew that that
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was the most important stone,where you put that sat, where
the rest of the house was goingto be.
And so Christ was thecornerstone that was rejected.
Okay, rejected by who?
By the Jews.
All right, rejected by the Jews.
Continuing on in verse 5.
All right, rejected by the Jews.
Continuing on in verse 5,.
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You also, as living stones, arebeing built up as a spiritual
house for a holy priesthood tooffer up spiritual sacrifices
acceptable to God through JesusChrist.
Believers aren't random loosestones.
We're built together uponChrist.
Unity matters.
As a holy priesthood, we offerspiritual sacrifices, worship,
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intercession, proclaiming thegospel and living righteously
before God and man.
Okay, it is not easy to livethis Christian lifestyle or way
of life I hate the wordlifestyle, way of life.
You are going to die toyourself.
You're going to lose a ton offriends.
You're going to not get invitedto parties, you're not going to
be invited to social events.
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People are going to fall awaybecause, oh, you're different.
You're different, which is whywe have to fight so hard for our
own fellowship amongst eachother, because the world is
going to reject us.
Your friend group is going togo from this to this right, and
if you don't find a good church,if you don't find a community
to plug into, you're going to beisolated along, which is
(20:30):
exactly what the enemy wants.
You Don't give up, don't quit.
Verses 6 through 8.
For this is contained inScripture.
Behold, I lay in Zion a choicestone, a precious cornerstone,
talking about Christ, and he whobelieves upon him will not be
put to shame.
This precious value, then, isfor you who believe, but for
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those who disbelieve, the stonewhich the builders rejected.
This has become the chiefcornerstone and a stone of
stumbling and a rock of offense.
They stumble because they aredisobedient to the word and to
this stumbling.
They were also appointed.
There's some that's anotherthing of Calvinism that you'll
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hear right there.
The Jews were chosen to stumbleover Jesus and to reject Jesus.
Okay, so they stumbled becausethey're disobedient to the word
and to this stumbling.
They were also appointed.
Do with that as you will Honorversus offense.
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To us he is precious.
To the rebellious he is astumbling block or a stone of
offense.
That's somebody hitting youwith a stone.
Stand ready for rejection andhostility.
Our job isn't to remodel thestone to fit the world.
Too many churches and too manypeople try to treat Jesus like
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he is a used car.
Look at these features.
You're going to have this andyou're going to get this and
this shiny bobble and this andall this.
No, no, no, no, no.
That is why street preacherscan be extremely valuable,
speaking hard truths to peopleto convict the sin in them.
If the sin can be convicted inyou, you can turn back to God
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and that's God calling you home.
The whole job of a pastor well,there's a couple jobs, but one
of the primary roles of a job isto offend the sin in you by
exposing God's word to you, byexposing you to God's word and
explaining what that means.
So you don't try to sprinkle inyour own favorite things.
I'm going to choose this.
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This is my favorite part.
Oh, that's not my Jesus.
Okay, so they choose one partof Jesus in this chapter and
then another one in this chapterand we'll skip all this and
right here.
And then you have a religion ofone, your own religion, that is
proclaimed nowhere except inyour head, and those are the
sins that you think aren't bad.
So you do them and it's okay.
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No, this is the only.
This is the manual foreverything in life.
This is everything you need toknow.
If it isn't in here, it's notworth knowing Right Now.
There's a lot out there.
There's scripture and there'sscience.
There's all that.
God made all that.
It's all part of it.
He created that.
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So I'm not saying don't go andbe a scientist, go be a
scientist, go be an engineer, gounderstand.
God made it and understandingis that.
But what I'm saying for livinglife and understanding life and
understanding your strugglesevery day, this is the only
manual for it Verses 9 through10.
But you are a chosen family.
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God chose you to be part of hisfamily.
There's always a saying outthere You're born with your
family and you choose yourfriends.
That's not how it is inChristianity.
God chose you in.
You got called in.
You'll know, when you become aChristian you're even going to
lose family members.
I remember growing up in BostonI never met a born again, but
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everyone told me to run awayfrom born agains because once
you became born again, they werecrazy and you're never going to
see them again.
It's not that you won't seethem again.
You don't want to be aroundthem because they're light in
your darkness.
You can't look at porn aroundyour Christian friends.
You can't do this.
You can't go to the strip club.
You can't do all that.
That's all you want to do.
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What do they want to do?
Real stuff, real stuff.
You are a chosen family, a royalpriesthood.
He's calling each and every oneof us a royal priesthood.
Royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own
(24:51):
possession, so that you mayproclaim the excellence of him,
who has called you out of thedarkness into his marvelous
light, for you once were not apeople, but now you are a people
of God.
You had not received mercy, butnow you have received mercy.
Peter stacks identity uponidentity here, highlighting the
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unmerited grace that we don'tdeserve that God bestows.
We were once not a people, nowwe are his.
In Exodus 9, 19.6, it says youshall be to me a kingdom of
priests and a holy nation.
This old covenant promise findsits fulfillment in Christ's
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church.
Christian warriors, what do wedo with this?
Know your foundation.
Warriors who forget thecornerstone can't stand when the
storm hits.
Christ is the immovable rock.
Embrace the offensive nature ofthe gospel.
Christ is king.
Yes, he is.
Deal with it.
If you're not prepared forhostility, you'll fall at the
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moment it arises.
Live out your royal priesthood.
Intercession is a part of yourspiritual warfare.
A warrior prays fervently forthe family, for the family, the
church and the nation.
Offer your daily life as aspiritual sacrifice pleasing to
God.
When I'm going to the gym andI'm working out in the gym now,
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I dedicate that workout to God,no matter how bent over I gym
and I'm working out in the gymnow, I dedicate that workout to
God, no matter how bent over Iam when I get in there because
my back is out or my knees arekilling me or any of that.
I am moving step forward and Iam sanctifying my body to be
more the way he made it and theway it aligns with him than with
me wanting to sit on the couch.
(26:41):
And, you know, rest and not bein pain.
You know, once you findsomething, once you're in pain,
it completely changes everythingin your life.
There are brief moments in mylife where I haven't been in
pain, where my back or my kneesor something isn't working and
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you don't have to think howyou're going to get to the
kitchen.
You just get to the kitchen.
But when your back is out oryour knees are out, you plan
every step of that and you'remitigating pain the entire way
you're getting there and itbecomes almost a defining
process or a part of the processof everything you're doing.
(27:21):
You know, when you sit up inbed and you go to a level five
on the pain scale and you have ahigh pain tolerance, it changes
everything versus someone whojust gets to roll out of bed.
I know you can whine and youcan complain about it or you can
use it for your ownsanctification.
Right, and that is one of thehardest challenges you have.
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As you get older, as your bodybreaks down, as you accrue more
afflictions, you will becomeinherently familiar with
suffering in some form and youwill have to learn to deal with
it.
And you can despair andself-destruct, pour yourself
(28:04):
into drugs or illegal drug foodor other things to escape your
suffering video games,binge-watching TV Because what
you can get in that one positionthat doesn't hurt.
You forget about it and thenyou escape everything.
That's deteriorating becauseyou can't move.
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Guilty.
Guilty as charged, okay.
But this suffering is a test.
It is a test is a test how youhandle that.
You know how you handle easydays.
Who cares?
It's an easy day.
An easy day is whatever.
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And what you thought was likelast year when lauren almost I
had a bunch of problems before,when Lauren went into labor and
then when they took her back totry to save her life because she
was bleeding out and dying andthey couldn't stop it and I
didn't think I was ever going tosee her again.
Do you think I care one bitabout any problem other than
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Lord, give me back my wife.
I didn't care about anything.
I didn't care if I lived in acardboard box with her.
I didn't care about the cows, Ididn't care about this.
I didn't care.
I just wanted my family back.
How many of us take our familyfor granted and then they're
gone?
And you didn't say what youneed to say.
You didn't make amends.
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Suffering is a part of life.
How you deal with it defineswho you are and defines whether
you're a Christian or not.
So your suffering is aspiritual sacrifice to God.
How you deal with that?
When you see a Christianweather cancer like a champ,
they do more for the grace, thekingdom of God, than anyone who
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had a healthy life, who didnothing, who never endured that.
They're just like.
How can they?
And then you see the family.
When they pass on theiridentity and their family's
rejoicing that their parent ortheir loved one is in heaven and
is still walking it out Changesthe world.
A Christian hitting the lotterydoesn't do anything Right.
What do we all get Jealousenvious?
(30:13):
Who gets jealous, man?
I wish I had cancer.
No one right.
So John Chrysostom said he isthe stone upon which the house
of our faith rests.
Remove that stone andeverything falls.
Keep firm upon it and we areinvincible.
Hold on to that stone witheverything you've got Verses 11
(30:38):
through 17.
We'll start with 11 here.
Beloved, I urge you, assojourners and exiles, to
abstain from fleshly lusts whichwage war against our soul.
Our flesh most often warsagainst our eternity.
Our flesh wants things of death, of pleasure.
(30:59):
It wants to eat the entire cake.
It wants to watch lustfulthings.
It wants to engage in thingsthat destroy marriages and
relationships.
It wants back before.
I mean, you've got to rememberback before law enforcement.
If you wanted something youcould just go take it, and if
(31:20):
you were bigger, stronger, yougot it.
There were no repercussions.
Your flesh wars against that,and what we have to remember is
that we are sojourners,travelers, in exile.
This world is not our permanenthome.
Your true citizenship is inheaven.
Live accordingly.
Passions of the flesh wage waragainst your soul.
(31:43):
Sin is a suicide bomber in yourown ranks.
Don't coddle it.
Verse 12.
By keeping your conductexcellent among the Gentiles, so
that in the thing which theyslander you as evildoers, they
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may, because of your good worksas they observe them, glorify
God in the day of his visitation.
Let me read that again bykeeping your conduct excellent
among the Gentiles, so that, inthe thing which they slander you
as evildoers, they may, becauseof your good works as they
observe them, glorify God in theday of righteousness.
Here they are, they'reforeigners in a foreign land and
(32:26):
they're hated Hated, but that'sa man.
They're good people, right?
I don't like them.
Imagine being a Viking, aViking's polygamous.
They can have whatever theywant, they can go raid, they can
take whatever.
Your neighbor is a Christianand their yard is nice.
They're doing everything.
Everything is good.
They help you when you fall.
You do all these things.
(32:46):
You're like man.
I can't say they're a badneighbor, right?
I don't agree with this andthat.
But man, whatever that God isthat's doing to them really sets
them apart.
The Greek for honorable kalen,if I pronounce that right
suggests beautiful orpraiseworthy behavior.
(33:07):
So it doesn't.
Honorable sounds right, butit's beautiful or praiseworthy
behavior.
Even if they hate your message,let them see your
irreproachable conduct.
Matthew 5.16 resonates here.
Let them see your good worksand glorify God.
Okay, now I'm going to read thispart and then I'm going to
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unpack this, because this hasbeen horrifically abused during
COVID, peter 2.13-15, and we'regoing to break this part.
And then I'm going to unpackthis, because this has been
horrifically abused during COVID, peter 2, 13 through 15.
And we're going to break thatdown a little bit.
Then we're going to go through17, and then I'm going to really
dive into it here.
Hold on, this is about to golive.
I'm having.
That's me, my soul.
(33:50):
God doesn't want me talkingabout this thing here.
I'm going to push on through.
Be subject to authority 1 Peter2.13-15.
You can't always get what youwant.
So verse 13 be subject, for thesake of the lord, to every
(34:15):
human institution, whether to aking as the one in authority, or
to governors, as sent by him,for punishment of evildoers and
the praise of those who do good,for such is the will of god
that by doing good you maysilence the ignorant of the
ignorance of foolish men.
Submission, tomission toauthority.
How many of the weak churchesdid we see that closed?
(34:36):
Who quoted 1 Peter, 2, verses13 through 17?
Submit, for the Lord's sake, toevery human institution
Rebellion for rebellion's sake.
There's no place in Christ'slike Rebellion for rebellion's
sake.
Yet we don't obey simplecommands that violate God's law.
(34:57):
We respect the office ofauthority, while always
remembering who is truly king,who's king?
Christ is king.
It's funny that they're tryingto discredit that title.
So 16 and 17.
Act as free people and do notuse your freedom as a covering
(35:19):
for evil, but use it as slavesof God.
Honor all people.
Love the brethren.
Fear God, honor the king.
We're free in Christ, but notfree to sin or disrespect.
True freedom is the ability toobey God joyfully, loving others
sacrificially.
Honor everyone, love thebrotherhood, fear God, honor the
(35:45):
emperor.
The Christian warrior isneither an anarchist nor a
cowardly sycophant.
We walk the narrow road ofrespectful steadfastness.
So after writing this scripture, after writing this sermon, I
had to go back and include thisaddendum resisting evil for
authority.
So bear with me.
We're good In light of 1 Peter,2, 13 through 17,.
(36:10):
Submit to every humaninstitution, for the Lord's sake
.
Some may wonder if Christiansmust always obey rulers, even
when they perpetrate evil.
Through the scripture andchurch history we'll see a vital
balance.
Our ultimate allegiance is toGod.
We hold dual citizenship, inheavens and on earth.
While earthly authoritiescommand what God forbids or
(36:35):
forbid what God commands, wemust obey God rather than men.
That is a no-brainer.
But churches did it.
God told us to gather and theydid not.
Biblical examples of resistanceDaniel, civil disobedience when
told not to pray to God, hebrewmidwives they refused Pharaoh's
(36:59):
commands to kill the Hebrewmale infants which gave us Moses
the apostles.
They continued to preach Jesus'name despite the Sanhedrin
telling them not to, and it costthem all their lives, except
for one.
John Calvin and the magisterialreformers taught that rulers
receive authority from God to dogood If they turn tyrannical.
(37:20):
Lesser magistrates and citizensmay lawfully resist under the
guidance of God's word.
We do not despise authority ingeneral.
We oppose only that whichviolates God's higher law.
Authority in general, we opposeonly that which violates God's
higher law.
So what are some practicalprinciples for us as Christian
(37:40):
warriors?
Respectful disobedience.
Resist evil.
Mandates with humility andprayer, not with hateful
rhetoric or violence forpersonal gain.
Preparedness to suffer.
Sometimes resistance incurslegal or social penalties.
We follow Christ's example.
When reviled, he did not revilein return.
Guard against sin.
We are not anarchists.
(38:01):
We stand for righteousness, notself-willed rebellion.
You are called to resist evil.
You are called to fight backagainst evil.
You are called what is evil?
Things that go against God'sword?
Simple Psalm 37, seven throughnine.
(38:22):
Be still before the Lord andwait patiently for him.
Refrain from anger.
We trust God to bring justice.
In Ephesians 6, 12,.
Our battle is ultimatelyspiritual.
The real enemy is sin and Satan, not merely human institutions,
not merely Okay, that notmerely is huge.
Too many people say our enemyis flesh and blood.
(38:44):
And it's not flesh and blood,it's powers and principalities.
And those powers andprincipalities have puppets.
And those puppets are humans,which are wicked and vile and
evil and do horrible things.
And, yes, we have to engagethem.
We cannot comply with commandsthat defy our Lord.
So we submit to rightfulauthority for God's sake, but
(39:08):
resist any command that wouldmake us sin against God.
This is not a contradiction, itis a faithful obedience to the
highest king.
As Christian warriors, we do sowith spiritual prayer, love and
courage, knowing we stand onunshakable ground, the eternal
rule of our sovereign God.
So guard your heart and guardyour camp.
The biggest threat might not bethe hostile world, but
(39:29):
unrepentant sin.
We allow to remain rooted out.
Live above reproach.
Let your actions refute liesabout your faith.
Let your actions refute liesabout your faith.
Your actions, not your words.
Only your actions refute thelies about Christians.
Christians are cold.
Christians are this.
Christians are that.
Your actions should show.
(39:49):
Otherwise, in a world itchingto discredit Christians, your
consistent integrity is apowerful weapon.
That's why the second you are ahypocrite.
It destroys your ministry.
It destroys your credibility.
Strategic submission we submitto rightful authority so long as
it doesn't force us to sinagainst God.
(40:10):
That stance requiresdiscernment and courage.
Augustine said Obedience tolawful authority is obedience to
God's order, but if thatauthority opposes God's law, we
choose to obey the higher law,ready to suffer the consequences
.
So again now we're going to gothrough verses 18 through 25 and
(40:31):
wrap this up.
Suffering unjustly, followingChrist's example, and I'm going
to read 18 through 20 right nowServants, be subject to your
masters with all fear, not onlyto those who are good and
considerate, but also to thosewho are crooked.
For this finds favor, in thesake of conscience, towards God.
(40:51):
A person bears up under sorrowswhen suffering unrighteously.
So what?
I'll break it down when we getto it.
For what credit is there if,when you sin and are harshly
treated, you endure?
But if, when you do good andsuffer for it, you endure, this
finds favor with God.
This principle applies broadlyEmployees under unfair bosses,
(41:15):
citizens under oppressiveregimes or failing members in
difficult households Enduring injustice, mindful of God, a
gracious thing.
Our response to suffering caneither reflect bitterness or
reflect Christ.
21 through 23,.
Christ is our example.
Four.
To this you have been called,since Christ also suffered for
you.
God is not telling you to dosomething that he didn't already
(41:37):
lead the way on, leaving you anexample that you should follow
in his steps.
Who did no sin, nor was anydeceit found in his mouth.
Who, being reviled was notreviling in return.
While suffering, he wasuttering no threats, but kept
(41:59):
entrusting himself to him whojudges righteously, and even
said Father, forgive them.
They know not what they do.
Christ's suffering as a model.
He committed no sin, yet heendured mocking and the cross.
He did not retaliate, butentrusted himself to he who
judges justly.
There's a powerful lesson inthe absence of retaliation, it's
(42:22):
not weakness, it's strength,under the control of faith and
God's perfect justice.
I also want to put this incontext.
Christ came to be a sacrifice.
He did not come to be conquered.
He did not come to be murdered.
He did not come.
No one murdered him.
They thought they weremurdering him.
Christ came to be the perfectsacrifice for us.
Okay, that's why that happened.
(42:45):
That mission only happens once.
Okay, Now we lay our life downfor Christ, but we are not the
perfect sacrifice for God.
Okay, we sacrifice.
You know parts of our life andour lives to God, but in a
(43:05):
completely different manner.
24 and 25.
He himself bore sins in hisbody on the tree so that, having
died to sin, we might live torighteousness.
By his wounds you are healed,for you were continually
(43:28):
straying like sheep, but now youhave returned to the shepherd
and overseer of your soul.
By his wounds you are healed.
Christ's substitutionaryatonement transforms our entire
view of suffering.
We can endure injusticesbecause our greatest injustice,
sin, has been dealt with at thecross In Hosea 53.5,.
He was pierced for ourtransgressions.
With his wounds we are healed.
(43:49):
This is the anchor for our hopeand ultimate sign of God's love
.
What application do we have asChristian warriors in this
Endure hardship with dignity, awarrior does not whine.
We demonstrate resilience,reading Christ as our example
and trust yourself to God.
We are not naive about evil,but we trust God to right wrongs
(44:10):
in his time.
Our job is faithfulness,preparedness and diligence.
He handles ultimate justice.
Fight the spiritual battle.
We do not wage war withbitterness and violence for
personal gain.
Our weapons are prayer, truthand sacrificial love.
And that sacrificial love canbe kinetic.
(44:30):
Early church father insightwould be Athanasius the cross is
the power of God, for on it wasdisplayed the triumph over
spiritual principalities.
We fight from Christ's victory,not toward our own.
Some reflections form Psalm144.1.
Blessed be the Lord, my rock.
(44:51):
Who trains my hands for war andmy fingers for battle Doesn't
sound like a pacifist for me.
Our hands for war are trainedin God's ways.
The greatest battles arespiritual within our own hearts
and resisting the devil's lies.
Physical readiness can be apart of protecting others, but
it must always be submitted tothe higher spiritual purpose.
(45:11):
If you faint in the day ofadversity and this is Proverbs
24.10, your strength is small.
Christian warriors are calledto perseverance.
We must strengthen ourselves inthe Lord daily so we don't fold
under pressure.
And Ephesians 6.10-18, thearmor of God everyone talks
(45:32):
about.
The armor of God teaches usthat truth, the belt of truth,
the breastplate of righteousness, shoes of the gospel, the
shield of faith, the helmet ofsalvation and the sword of the
Spirit are our essential gear.
Each piece is needed to standfirm are our essential gear.
Each piece is needed to standfirm.
(45:53):
1 Peter 2 is a master class ina warrior identity and godly
living.
Under pressure, purge, sin andreload on God's word.
No soldier can fighteffectively without ammo or with
a terrible deadly disease ofwhat Sin?
2.
Remember who you are.
In Christ, you are a livingstone in God's spiritual house,
a holy royal priest who offersyour life to God.
(46:14):
Maintain honor among thenations.
Fight sin within, submit torightful authority without and
let your good work silence falseaccusations.
Four endure suffering withChrist's mindset.
The ultimate warrior king, wonthrough the cross.
Following his footsteps.
(46:35):
And then Psalm 1834, he trainsmy hands for war so that my arms
can bend the bow of bronze.
The God who strengthens yourbody also fortifies your soul.
We must fight with spiritualdiscipline, holiness, unwavering
trust in God's sovereignty,diligence and preparedness.
Tell it like it is.
If you toy with sin, disrespectauthority or cowl from
(47:00):
persecution, you're AWOL fromGod's calling.
If you stand firm on thecornerstone, honor those around
you, suffer well for Christ'ssake.
You fulfill your God-ordainedrole as a Christian warrior, a
light on a hill, a beacon ofhope in this dark world and a
protector of the weak.
Take heart, you're not alone inthis fight.
The same God who made you achosen race and a royal
(47:24):
priesthood stands with you.
He is an unstoppable king whowill ultimately subdue all evil
and reign in perfect justice.
Stand, therefore, stand on theimmovable rock.
Equip yourself with his worddaily, purify your soul,
proclaim his excellencies untilhe returns in glory.
Go forth in confidence, humbledependence, wielding the
(47:50):
spiritual weapons he's given youin the battles ahead.
Go forth in confidence, humbledependence, wielding the
spiritual weapons he's given youin the battles ahead.
So now we get into and we'regoing to do the Lord's Supper.
Okay, this is for baptizedbelievers, and we are called to
(48:39):
judge ourself here, to analyzeourself before we do this.
As it says in 1 Corinthians 11,27-32,.
Whoever, therefore, eats thebread and drinks of the cup of
the Lord, an unworthy man willbe guilty concerning the body
and the blood of the Lord.
Let a person examine himself,then, and so eat of the bread
and drink of the cup.
Let's go ahead and close youreyes.
I want you to look into your ownlife now and see where you're
(49:20):
AWOL in God's army.
Where are you failing?
I want you to repent of that.
I want you to repent ofanything else that you haven't
brought to the Lord.
Ask him to seek out in you anysin that may have been revealed
(49:42):
during this sermon this week,since we last did this or the
last time you've done it, butgive him permission to search
out your heart and expose anysin.
Ask him to Pray for it Now.
Let's remember that this is avictory toast, that God Christ
(50:03):
came down and conquered death,rose from the grave and sits in
heaven now as his churchconquers the world.
Now, as they were eating, jesustook the bread and, after
blessing it, broke it and gaveit to the disciples and said
Take, eat, this is my body.
Go ahead and eat.
And he took a cup.
(50:26):
When he had given it, givingthanks, he gave it to them
saying Drink of it, all of you,for this is my blood of the
covenant, which is poured outfor many, for the goodness of
sins.
Go ahead and drink.
Heavenly Father, lord, we thankyou.
We thank you for your word.
We thank you for the book ofPeter, a manual on how to live.
Lord, help us take today'steaching and apply it to every
(50:49):
aspect of our life.
Help us to ruthlessly searchour own sin and to crush it.
Help us to submit to rightfulleadership, righteous leadership
, and help us to resist theunrighteous, the wicked and the
evil.
Give us the courage to do so.
The wicked and the evil.
(51:12):
Give us the courage to do so.
Lord, I pray a blessing overthis congregation for the week
to come of peace, love and joy.
Lord, protection, I pray thatyou would comfort everyone today
from all their and the weekcoming forward with all their
(51:33):
pains, or to use it in a way tohelp them get closer to you.
I pray for protection for thiscongregation and for the
persecuted church around theworld, for our troops overseas,
our first responders at home andour veterans of yesteryear.
I pray that this world doesn'tgo into World War III.
I pray for our beloved leaders,our righteous leaders, that you
(51:59):
would use them, lord, that yourwill will be done and not
theirs.
Lord, you can use anyone to doyour will and I pray that you
would do that here in America.
And lastly, I pray for ourbeloved America that America
would humble herself, turn fromher sin, hit her knees and seek
your face, and that you wouldsee her and heal her, so that we
(52:23):
could once again be one nationunder God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all.
Now I call this congregation toput on the full armor of God,
strap on the shield, feel theshield of faith, pick up the
sword of the Spirit and toboldly step forward in the
shield wall, locking shields tothe left and right as we march
forward to take ground for yourkingdom, for your glory forever.
Go ahead and stand.
May the Lord bless you and keepyou.
(52:47):
May the Lord make his face toshine upon you and be gracious
to you.
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