Hope Beyond Unfairness: Pressing On Even Though Ripped Off, Part 3

Today, on Insight for Living from Chuck Swindoll. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. We don't work for the glory or for the credit or the prestige or the salary or the perks.

We work for the glory of God. Imagine unfolding the morning newspaper to the obituary section. How would you feel if you saw your portrait and life story mistakenly printed?

And furthermore, how did you feel if the writer completely misrepresented your personal character? A highly unlikely event, but today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll talks about how to handle those inescapable moments in life when we're maligned, mistreated, and misrepresented. We're looking at 1 Peter chapter 2. In this passage, the apostle reminds us that even Jesus had enemies that hated him.

Chuck titled his message, Hope Beyond Unfairness. Nowhere in scripture is anarchy promoted. Nowhere in scripture is insurrection against the government promoted. Jesus said, render to Caesar what Caesar has coming due. Render to God what God has coming due.

And Peter says, as we're going to develop the thought, submit. Look at verse 13 chapter 2. Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake, not for your enemy's sake, for the Lord's sake, to every human institution.

Remember Nero's the king, whether to a king as the one in authority or to governors as sent by the king for the punishment of evil doers and the praise of those who do right. For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men. We do not submit because we necessarily agree. We do not submit because we deep within could support the rules, the codes, the regulations.

At times they seem galling and terribly restrictive. We do it for, you just read it, because it is the will of God and because we are bond slaves of God. Now you see the principle comes to the surface. Right in verse 16, I've got the principle underlined, do not use your freedom as a covering for evil. In fact, he gives you in little staccato bursts five commands and wrapped within the commands is that main principle. See the commands act as free men. Only do not use your freedom as a covering for evil. Use it as bond slaves of God is another command. Honor all men.

Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king. Slaves, verse 18 begins. Be submissive to your masters with all respect. Well that's great if you have a good master, but verse 18 doesn't talk to slaves in that situation. Not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are unreasonable.

Let me go through this very carefully. For this finds favor. If for the sake of conscience toward God, a man bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly. For what credit is there if when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if when you do what is right and suffer for it, patiently enduring it, this finds favor with God.

For you were called for this purpose. Peter is writing to believers who have the Lord Jesus living within. He is appealing to believers in their situation to live with what is occurring. Submissive ultimately to the Lord and then on this earth to those for whom they work. Not only to the good and gentle, but also to the unreasonable. If for the sake of conscience toward God, you bear up under sorrows when you're suffering unjustly. Here you are, a hardworking, faithful employee.

Diligent, thoughtful, prompt, caring, working for a boss who is belligerent and stubborn and short-sighted and unthankful. If you patiently endure that situation, aha, that causes grace to be on display. And I've got news for you. It finds favor with God. Hold your place and look at two verses of scripture. 1 Corinthians 10, 31 and Colossians 3, 17. Locate them both and we'll just read them back to back. 1 Corinthians 10, 31 and Colossians 3, 17.

Got it? 1 Corinthians 10, 31. Whether then you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. That'll revolutionize your employment if you really believe it.

And some need employment revolutionizing. Colossians 3, 17. Whatever you do in word or deed, whatever you do on the job, whatever you do, wherever you are, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Now can you see by now the Christian philosophy is absolutely radical and revolutionary?

You begin to see it pulsating from the page of scripture. We don't work for the glory or for the credit or the prestige or the salary or the perks. We work for the glory of God and whatever we do, if you don't, you will take offense at a stubborn boss. You will fight your boss. You will resist your boss.

You'll make it hard for your company and your boss and your fellow employees. The purpose of the believer in society is to bring glory and honor to the name of Christ, not to be treated well or to have life easy or even to be happy, as wonderful as all those things are. It's from that perspective that Peter writes. Remember who he's walked with for three of Jesus' 33 years, back to 1 Peter chapter 2.

In fact, you may be, as I was, surprised at the statement that appears at the initial part of verse 21. You're called for this purpose. That's the reason you're in that company. That's the reason you're filling that role. For you have been called for this purpose.

Now, here's the example you anticipated. Since Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example for you to follow in his steps, I deliberately left him off the list at the beginning of my talk. No one was ever more ripped off by the public than our Savior.

No one. The only perfect man who ever lived but suffered continually in his ministry misunderstood, maligned, ultimately scourged, arrested, scourged, crucified, hated. What an example. Peter saw him in that situation. He left you to walk in his steps. Now look at him, who committed no sin nor was any deceit found in his mouth. While being reviled, did not revile in return. While suffering, he uttered no threats, kept entrusting himself to him who judges righteously. Look at his focus.

He kept entrusting himself to him. That's a good thing to do through the day. Lord, this is a hard moment for me. I'm having a tough time today on my job. Here we are again dealing with a man or the woman that I'm working for that is difficult to deal with. Lord, help me. I entrust myself to you. I give you my struggle.

Help me in this conflicting relationship. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross. That we might die to sin and live to righteousness by his wounds you were healed. I am impressed with the words he committed no sin nor was any deceit found in his mouth. John Henry Jowett writes of Jesus' perfection.

I love this. The fine sensitive membrane of the soul had in no wise been scorched by the fire of iniquity. No sin. He was perfectly pure and healthy. No power had been blasted by the lightening of passion. No nerve had been atrophied by the wasting blight of criminal neglect.

The entire surface of his life was as finely sensitive as the fair healthy skin of a little child. There was no duplicity. There were no secret folds or convolutions in his life concealing ulterior motives. There was nothing underhand. His life lay exposed in perfect truthfulness and candor. The real inner meaning of his life was presented upon a plain surface of undisturbed simplicity.

That's great. No sin. Nothing blunted or benumbed. Nothing hardened by the effrontery of deceit. That's Christ.

But they hid him and they bruised him and they maligned him and they crucified him. Now, men and women, he is the example. I know there is a point to which you can go in this that is absolutely unwise and unhealthy. I know that.

Most of us don't get anywhere near that. We are so quick to defend ourselves. We know our lawyer's phone number better than we do a verse of scripture on self restraint. Quick to sue. Quick to fight back. Quick to answer back.

Quick to get back. Don't you dare step across that line. I've got my rights. You can't even figure out who's a Christian it seems. When is the last time you literally and deliberately for the glory of Christ took it on the chin, gave him all the glory and just kept your mouth shut. It's a rare, rare thing I say to our shame.

We are a fight back generation. Christians alike as well as non-Christians. I love the way the verse reads, he bore our sins in his body on the cross that we might die to the domination of self will and sinfulness and live to righteousness. It ties in beautifully with Romans 6. By the way, see the words, by his wounds you were healed.

You talk about vivid wounds is in the singular, in the original. By his welt. Peter remembers, thinks back to that moment when he saw that body staggering along the Via Dolorosa to the cross, to Golgotha and he remembers that scene and he recalled one massive bruise, one oozing sore Isaiah says his visage, his appearance was not even that of a man. One swollen mass of flesh. His eyes were like slits and he was as one wound and by that he heals us.

Now you may wonder why. I would suggest such a radical way to respond when you are the brunt of such treatment, verse 25, because you were continually straying like sheep but now, now with the right perspective, now with that submissive spirit you return to the shepherd and guardian of your souls. Here it is, submission causes us to return to our shepherd for his protection.

I encourage you to do that. Submission causes us to return to our shepherd for his protection rather than defending ourselves. Fighting, always fighting for our rights. You know what? It just may be that it's become so much a part of our lifestyle and reaction and culture that we don't even know what the public's opinion of us is. You may think that you're known pretty well in your group as a Christian. Just for a moment, tolerate the thought you may not be.

You may not really be that different from those who work around you. With that in mind, I close with a true story written by Nicholas Halas. Listen to this. One morning in 1888, Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, the man who had spent his life amassing a fortune from the manufacture and sale of weapons, awoke to read his own obituary. The obituary was printed as a result of a simple journalistic error.

Alfred's brother had died and a French reporter carelessly reported the death of the wrong brother. That must have been a bit of a shock to read his own obituary. Any man would be disturbed under the circumstances but to Alfred the shock was overwhelming because he saw himself as the world saw him, the dynamite king, the weapon maker, the great industrialist who had made an immense fortune from explosives. This as far as the general public was concerned was the entire purpose of his life, so said the obituary.

None of his true intentions to break down the barriers that separated men and ideas were recognized or given serious consideration. He was quite simply in the eyes of the public a merchant of death and for that alone he would be remembered. As he read his obituary with shocking horror he resolved to make clear to the world the true meaning and purpose of his life. This could be done through the final disposition of his fortune. His last will and testament would be the expression of his life's ideals and the result was the most valued of prizes given to this day to those who have done most for the cause of world peace, the Nobel Peace Prize. That caught my eye because I at times wonder what it would read if my obituary suddenly appeared and I ask you to entertain that, that frightful thought for a moment. What is your life known for?

What will you be remembered for? If you could read it today would you have to suddenly alter, deliberately alter the way you've reacted to mistreatment? Some would. Wouldn't it be good if we would bow together and for a few moments did a little soul searching? I think so.

I think so. Just block out all other interruptions for a moment. How about for the rest of your life rewriting your obituary? Just re-etching on the stone and then deliberately carrying out that objective or those series of objectives. A follower of Christ, a true servant who lived like his example or her example, a person who didn't first think of my own rights, my own comfort. How about this on the stone, truly unselfish, an exemplary servant who caused others to succeed.

Someone who could live with offense but didn't cause offense to others. That is not deliberately. Brings us back to the cross, doesn't it? You sure you know the one who hung there?

You're absolutely positive you've got a relationship with him. Maybe the fight's going on within you these days because you've really not submitted to begin with your will, submitted your will to the Savior. That's where it all starts. Dear Lord, find within us a yielded and still spirit and come in like a flood. Occupy as waters finding empty spaces. Occupy reserved portions of our lives. Walk through our house.

Claim closets and beneath rug areas as much as you claim the living quarters and the kitchen. Let nothing go unnoticed as you take full control of motive as well as action. Deep within our hearts we pray sincerely. In Jesus' name.

Amen. Well maybe you've been listening today and you're thinking about a painful season in your life when you were blatantly mistreated. The overarching lesson is clear. God knows, God cares and he's prepared to help you rise above your disappointment. You're listening to the Bible teaching of pastor and author Chuck Swindoll and this is message number six in the classic series called Hope Again. We'll hear an important closing comment from Chuck in just a moment. If you'd like to learn more about this ministry, visit us online at insightworld.org. It was July 1979 when Insight for Living was first aired on the radio and 1984 in Canada. Yes, technology has changed since then and other facets of our culture have surely changed as well.

But when it comes to the human condition, nothing has changed at all. For that reason and more, we remain fully committed to share the hope of Christ to a dark world that's desperate for hope. And we're relying on friends like you to join us. Your regular giving is needed because people around the world are longing for biblical encouragement. For instance, somebody left a comment on our Facebook page that said, Chuck, I want to thank you for your ministry over the years. I've been listening to you since 1983. Since then, I've learned more about the Bible, winning others to the Lord and how to let my light shine. Well, we are so encouraged when we hear from listeners who draw spiritual strength from this program.

And these long term relationships are made possible in part by people like you. We know that many people are feeling discouraged by the moral chaos in our world. And when you support Insight for Living, you're empowering us to shine a ray of hope where darkness seems to prevail. Here's Chuck.

Well, that's true, Bill. Watching the evening news can be depressing. The flashing images and the fleeting sound bites stir up fear.

We see shocking violence and politicians shouting at one another and scandalous displays of moral depravity. Sometimes, to be frank with you, Cynthia and I shut down our TV. We look at one another and we sigh. Well, my friend, God never intended His children to carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. We're not wired to solve the world's problems, let alone feel those heavy emotions all at once.

It's just too much. So, when Cynthia and I shake our heads and sigh, we're reminded that God, in fact, does neither one. He's not in the heavens watching the evening news and wringing His hands. Our God is sovereign. He's in full control and He stands before us with open arms, prepared to infuse His children with hope. Since 1979, Insight for Living Ministries has served as a beacon of God's hope. And as we close the financial books on June 30th, would you ask God to guide you? Seek His will in the amount you should give to support Insight for Living. And then, as God prompts you, please respond to His call.

And don't delay. This year, Insight for Living feels the weight of enormous financial challenges. Even so, we refuse to wring our hands with worry. Instead, we place our confidence in the Lord our God.

Yes, we can trust Him. So, together, let's give generously so that Insight for Living Ministries can continue to serve as an oasis of hope to a world that desperately needs it. I love these hope-filled words that Peter gave to Christian friends back in the first century, friends who were under enormous pressure. He wrote them, So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead. Though you do not see Him now, you trust Him, and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. And that's my hope for you, my friend.

Together, during the fearful times in which we live, let's trust in our God, knowing that He will produce in us inexpressible joy. And here's how to get in touch with us at Insight for Living. To give your donation today, you can call us. If you're listening in the United States, call 800-772-8888. Again, that's 800-772-8888. You can also give a donation online at Insight.org. I'm Bill Meyer. Join us next time when Chuck Swindoll talks about finding hope even when your marriage is struggling on Insight for Living. The preceding message, Hope Beyond Unfairness, Pressing On Even Though Ripped Off, was copyrighted in 1988, 1990, 1996, 2006, and 2010, and the sound recording was copyrighted in 2011 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. All rights are reserved worldwide. Duplication of copyrighted material for commercial use is strictly prohibited.