Lets listen in.

Welcome to Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, Pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. Christ did the great work on our behalf, clearing the way for us to have a restored relationship with God, our sins forgiven. His suffering brought our healing. Now He calls us to take up His cross and follow Him. 1 Peter 2 21 says, For to this you are called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in His steps. Those who follow Christ are called to a life of sacrifice, dying to self, and willing to do what is difficult and costly for the sake of the gospel, just like our Savior. Instead of spending our lives on our own comfort and personal plans, Christ beckons us to invest our time and energy in building His plan. Beautiful things will result in us and around us when we surrender our lives to Christ's call. Let's listen in.

Scientific research has shown that if you replace your morning coffee with a kale smoothie, you have an 87% chance of losing what joy you have left in your life. Just singing. Thank you, Ken, for your candor in reading the Word of God. I'm going to ask something hard of you this morning, but I'm only communicating the Word of God. I'm only unpacking the text that is before us. I hope you're prepared.

This is not going to be easy. You have your copy of Scriptures open to 1 Peter. We are looking at 12 characteristics of people who are free. The title of this series is Live as People Who are Free. Do you know the freedom that you have in Christ?

We're going to talk about it today. It's mentioned in this text. The sixth characteristic of people who are free, people who are free are those who are following through suffering. Following through suffering. Keep your finger in 1 Peter and turn with me back to Matthew chapter 16. Matthew 16 verse 21. Jesus foretells his death and resurrection. Matthew 16, 21.

From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and the chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day rise. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him saying, far be it from you Lord, this shall never happen to you. But he turned and said to Peter, get behind me Satan. You are a hindrance to me for you are not setting your mind on the things of God but on the things of man. Let that be our springboard today for what this same man, Peter, is going to be writing to us as an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Our text begins today in verse 21 of 1 Peter chapter 2 where he says, for to this you have been called. To this you have been called. You are called to suffering. I want to make something clear as we embark on this text that what he is talking about is not the natural suffering that we experience in the fallen created order, the outer man perishing daily.

The natural occurrences that happen in nature that can cause suffering. Now it may be that God has called you to endure natural suffering for an extended period of time. And Dwight prayed for many of them this morning. But there is a calling in that. But that is not what the Lord is talking about through his apostle Peter under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit today. Verse 21 he says, for to this you have been called.

To understand what he's talking about we have to look back at verse 20. For if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. To this you have been called. So it's not simply sitting back and enduring the brokenness of creation. It is understanding that we as Christians are called to do good and to be willing to endure suffering because we are doing good. To this we have been called.

In other words it is the cost of living the gospel, the intentional goodness that reflects Christ rooted in sacrifice. We know so little of sacrifice compared to so many of our brothers and sisters around the world. And that is the challenge. Every time I come back from Haiti that's the challenge that smacks me in the face.

Me personally. I know so little of a sacrifice. We have it so good.

We have our comfortable routines. And in fact we have it so good we've become spoiled so that when our comfortable routines get interrupted we need God to prove his worthiness of our trust. Too much of Christianity, too much of the gospel presentation today is using it as a means of self-empowerment, realization of our dreams. What did Jesus say? If anyone will be my disciple let him what?

Deny himself and what? Take up his cross. What is a cross? It's a means of execution. What he's saying is you need to lay down your life if you're going to follow me. We have a lot of things that define our crosses today. It's the equivalent of a spiritual bad hair day or something.

Or my car won't start in the morning. Or you know I didn't actually get the job, the position in my job that brings me self-actualization and we think that's a cross we have to bear. It's not what Jesus is talking about. Are you willing to lay down your life to follow Christ? He says, to this you have been called. The idea of being called is that we've been summoned. Christ calls us to this, called to a task. It is our vocation to do good and to be willing to suffer in doing that good. Brian in his adult Bible fellowship this morning here in the auditorium talking about the apostles who Christ called and the history of which we know, not all of it very clearly, but all of the apostles suffered immensely for following Jesus and for proclaiming his truth.

All of them gave their lives with the exception of the apostle John. But this is our vocation. How many of you are in ministry? To this you are called. Are you willing to do? Are you willing to suffer difficulty, even suffering for this ministry to which you have been called?

And I speak to myself this morning. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Now Peter gives us two very clear reasons that should compel us to follow Christ in these steps. He says, to this you've been called because number one, Christ's exemplary suffering versus 21 to 23, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. And when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. Christ's exemplary suffering, his suffering was intentional. It was purposeful.

It was sacrificial. So his suffering leaves us a pattern. In verse 21, the word uses the word example. The nuance of that word that is used there is kind of the idea of meaning underwriting. Did you ever trace something when you were in school and you may still do it, but there's a pattern and you put a lighter paper over it and then you trace that.

That's the idea here to reproduce a drawing or a letter. We're so glad you've joined us for Delight in Grace, the teaching ministry of Rich Powell, pastor of Grace Bible Church in Winston-Salem. You can hear this message and others anytime by visiting our website, www.delightingrace.com. You can also check out Pastor Rich's book, Seven Words That Can Change Your Life, where he unpacks from God's word the very purpose for which you were designed. Seven Words That Can Change Your Life is available wherever books are sold. As always, tune in to Delight in Grace weekdays at 10 a.m.