Today on the verdict with Pastor John Monroe. As a Christian, We are followers of Christ. We follow him in all kinds of ways. And now, says Peter, when you are suffering, I want you to follow Christ. I want you to imitate his example.
Welcome to the verdict, featuring the Bible teaching of Pastor John Monroe, senior pastor of Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina. Following Christ's example isn't always easy, especially when suffering seems unfair. Today on the verdict, we're continuing a study in 1 Peter and discussing three essential lessons we can learn from the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. Here's Pastor John Monroe with part two of his message. Christ suffered for you.
Last time I asked a question. How do you respond when you're criticised? Responding to undeserved suffering is particularly difficult for us, but the advice the Apostle Peter is giving to persecuted first century Christians is very helpful. Peter reminds us that Christ also suffered for you. God's perfect Son, the Lord of glory, is betrayed, beaten, mocked, and eventually crucified.
He certainly didn't deserve to suffer. Yet in his suffering, He provides a perfect example.
Now, we're not saved by following the example of Jesus. Salvation comes through His sacrifice on the cross and receiving salvation as an act of grace. But now that we are His followers, we can marvel and learn from His perfect example. 1 Peter chapter 2. and we'll read from verse Yeah.
For what credit is it if When you sin and are beaten for it, you endure. But if when you do good And suffer for it, you endure. Is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called. Because Christ also Suffered for you.
leaving you an example so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him.
who judges Justly He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds You have been healed. For you were straying like sheep. But I've now returned to the shepherd.
and overseer. of your souls. Isn't that a magnificent passage? Christ suffered for you, first of all. as the supreme example for disciples.
For those of us who follow Jesus Christ, this example of suffering is magnificent. Jesus, the man of sorrows, was reviled, was beaten, was scourged, was deserted, and finally crucified. None of us has ever suffered like Christ. who was totally innocent and clearly did not deserve to suffer.
Now says Peter, you have been called to this. Verse 21, 4, To this that is suffering you have been called. Because Christ also Suffered. For you. And he's now saying that Jesus Christ is the perfect example.
the supreme example of responding to unjust suffering. And now Peter very skilfully gives us three steps to follow when we experience suffering. First of all, step one. When you're suffering, Do not sin. Verse 22.
He committed No saying. Neither was the seat. found in his Most. That's step number one. When suffering, do not sin.
Step number two: when you're suffering, do not retaliate. This is difficult for us, isn't it? Verse twenty-three. When he was reviled, He did not revile in return. When he suffered, He did not Threaten.
Step one. When suffering Do not sin. Step two. Do not retaliate. Step three.
Surrender everything, including yourself. To the Lord. Verse 23 again. When he reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten.
But this is what he did do. He continued entrusting himself to him who judges Justly. Our Saviour's continual trust. And that time of suffering was in his father. who judges Justly.
In the midst of suffering, you think it's unfair, you think God should do something about it, and God will do something about it. That is a future date, and that is reserved to the Father. The one who judges justly. What are you to do? What am I to do?
You're to surrender the whole situation. To your Heavenly Father, and surrender yourself. To the righteous judge. Don't think about getting even. Do not retaliate.
But surrender everything. to the Lord. The supreme Example of suffering. for disciples. He gives us an example.
But there's more, isn't there? Christ suffered for you. Not only as an example, He suffered for you. He is the supreme sacrifice for sinners. Christ's death was for our salvation as well as an example.
There are people who only look at Christ as an example and forget that he came to save. Notice what? Peter says Verse 24 in this wonderful verse that we love. He himself, that's our Saviour. bore our sins in his body on the tree.
That we might die to sin. And live. to righteousness. He's riding with great feeling, isn't he, to suffering saints. Our sins.
We're born Think of this. by our Savior in his body on the tree. It doesn't say on the cross, this is the word for a stake, this is the word for a gallow. This is the word for a piece of wood. And Peter is ruling the crucifixion in human history.
This is what actually happened. That the blessed innocent Saviour is crucified On a piece of wood, on the tree, and as he's dying, on that tree, he's burying our. Since Deuteronomy had said in Mosaic law, that the criminal was to be hung on a tree. Here is our Saviour. As far as the society was concerned, is now a criminal.
convicted and he's put to death On a tree and all of the humiliation involved in that.
So, Peter is now telling us that Christ is not only our example. He is our substitute. He is our Saviour. He himself. Bore our sins in his body on the tree.
Meditate on that. All of us have sinned. All of us are in righteousness. Here is the only way we can become. Righteous Paul says to the Corinthians in First Corinthians one that Christ became our righteousness.
He takes our sin, we receive His righteousness in His great exchange. and the punishment and penalty which we richly deserved, is born on Christ. He bears our sin in his body on the tree. that we might die to sin. and live to righteousness.
And someone says, well Do we really need a Saviour? Can't we live a good life by ourselves? Can we get to heaven? by your own efforts. Why do you need a Savior?
I think Peter gives us the answer in verse 24. At the end of it, he says, well, let me read the whole verse, verse 24, he himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. That we might die to sin and live to righteousness. And then he says, by his. Wounds You have been healed.
Spiritually speaking, we are Wounded or sick. This disease of sin wounds us. These wounds of sin are so severe that they will cause your death. The wages of sin is death. Spiritually speaking then, we are sick.
We've got these wounds, and these wounds will never ever heal by themselves. We need A physician. We need the great physician. who's going to come And it's going to cure the disease of sin.
So that we who are sick. We who are wounded may be healed by his wounds. You have been healed. Yes, there is ultimate healing in the atonement. Not all of the benefits of salvation are received now, but we know.
that by his wounds we are healed. Do these words sound familiar? Clearly, in writing these verses, Peter is meditating on Isaiah 53, verse 53. five at the end of verse five it says with his wounds We are healed. Because of sin.
I'm wounded, I'm bruised, I'm broken. And their Saviour comes. And by his wounds, the wounds of Calvary, the wounds of the cross. We are Healed, all of us are sick. But then he says in verse 25: For you were straying like sheep.
Straying like sheep. Does that fan sh sound familiar if you know your Bibles? Isaiah 53 verse 6, all we like sheep, have gone astray. We've turned everyone to his own way. We were sick.
And now he says, you were straying like sheep. You have wandered away from God. You've left the path. that God has for you. straying like sheep, and left by ourselves, we would never ever return to the fold.
What does our good shepherd do? Jesus tells us in Luke 15. In the parable of the A hundred sheep and one is lost. Oh, the shepherd, the good shepherd, our savior. What does he do?
He goes after the one that is lost. Until he finds it. Our Saviour came to seek and to save the lost. And the good shepherd, when he finds us, he puts us on his shoulder and takes us. Back to the fold.
And says Jesus, all of heaven rejoices over one sinner that repents. You wondered? Perhaps you were brought up in a Christian home. You decided to go your own way and you've you've you've you've wandered. You've made a right mess of your life.
And you're a sheep that's wandered. Here's the good news, the wonderful good news. that the good shepherd comes. To seek you, to save you. And to bring you back to that Wonderful fold.
Once wandering, now Found. O the love that sought me. Or the blood that bought me, or the grace that brought me to the fold. Wondrous grace. that brought me.
to the fault. Once I was straying now um Phones. Once I was lost, and now I'm in the fold, that fold which is. An eternal fold. I'm eternally safe.
I'm eternally secure. I've been found by the Good Shepherd. I was once wandering. And my magnificent Saviour has come. and has saved me and brought me to the fold.
Peter says Verse 25, you were straying like sheep. but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer The guardian. of our souls. The Lord is My shepherd I shall not want. Not wonderful to be a Christian.
And to know that whatever life has for me, that I'm in the care of the good shepherd. He's the overseer of my soul. And he has me by the hand, and he'll never let me go. And he gives me eternal life, and I shall never perish, and no one will ever snatch me out of his hand. He is a good shepherd.
He's the eternal shepherd. And he's found me. Once I was straying Says Peter, but now You have returned. to the shepherd. To the overseer, to the guardian of your soul.
Someone who's watching over us, caring for us in all of the big decisions of life and the trivial decisions of life. He's a good Shepherd, yes, Christ's death. is the supreme example. For disciples, but it is the supreme sacrifice for sinners. Christ's suffering was not on his own account.
Verse 21, he suffered. For you. Verse 24, he bore our sins in his body on the tree. Christ takes the punishment and the evil on the cross that we deserve, and He carries them all away. And Peter clearly Is meditating on Isaiah 53 when he talks about sheep.
When he talks about by his wounds we are healed. Verse five, Isaiah fifty-three, he was pierced. for our transgressions. What's a transgression? A deliberate transgression.
going over the line. Don't do this, this is a line and we go over it. That's a transgression. Our Saviour comes and he is pierced. It refers to the violent death.
of our Lord. This is the assault of man, the sinner. On the Messiah, the Saviour. David says in Psalm 22 in prophecy, they pierced my hands. And my feet.
And he's pierced. For your transgressions, because you have over and over again crossed the line. You have deliberately done what God tells you not to do, He is pierced for our transgressions. Then He has crushed for our iniquities. If a transgression is the stepping of a line, our iniquity refers to our inward depravity, our inward deceitfulness, the very twisted nature of our sin.
It's an iniquity and he is crushed for our iniquities. Our sin is pictured as a heavy weight. The profound weight of all of our iniquities are crushing the Messiah. Do you have the picture? He's crushed.
He's pierced. He's crushed for our iniquities and then As we thought, with his wounds, we are healed. We have the disease of sin. Christ is a divine healer. He comes and with his wounds we are healed stripe by stripe, blow by blow, wound by wound, agony by agony.
He has borne the punishment of our sin and in that way heals our Once.
Well love. What a mystery. I want you to think of it personally. He's bearing. Your son.
He's wounded. For you, yes. He's crushed for you. He's being scourged for you. Christ also, Peter says, suffered.
For you. As we come to the Lord's table and we meditating. on these beautiful and poignant words. Christ also suffered for you. If you're a follower of Christ, as you take the bread and the cup, Can you personalize it and say Christ also suffered?
For me. He bore my sins in his body. On the tree. And we praise him and we thank him and we love him. And we seek to serve him.
That old ragged cross reminds us that when we suffer, we do not suffer alone. What a wonderful example. for us to follow the steps of the man of sorrows. No retaliation. No bitterness.
How many people have suffered, and for years afterwards, they're consumed by a bitterness because of the injustice they perceive. Have been injured by, and there may have been a grave injustice, there may have been a tremendous unfairness of a situation, but they have been consumed and almost paralyzed by bitterness. That is not the path of the Saviour. No retaliation. No threats.
but complete submission to his Father's will. entrusting himself Notice to him who judges Justly. That's our supreme example of suffering. I was a young attorney. The senior partner of the firm, James M.
S. Tate, was my mentor. And uh he Was a bit of a poet, and he wrote this. as he contemplated Christ's suffering on the tree. He says, Be still, proud heart.
How can I stand and gaze Upon that head so humbly bending low, And not lament with tears and shame of face Thy wilful ways, rebelling, murmuring so? Offer the grace. in every earthly loss. to bow the head to God as Christ did. on the cross.
Do you see our Saviour? Not my will. But yours be done. And at the end, when he shouts in triumph, it is finished. What did the scripture say?
He bowed his head. and dismissed his spirit. Wasn't that his head flopped down? No, he deliberately. Bowed his head to the father's will.
He had come. to atone For the sins of the world. He'd come to bear our sins. And so he, in total submission to his father, surrendering himself to the one who judges justly, he bows his head in the same way. We are to have the grace in every earthly loss to bow the head to God as Christ did on the cross.
Christ suffering for us then. is not only our supreme example For us to follow, it is the supreme sacrifice for all of our sins. Do you know Christ as your Saviour? Just sit here. Are you right with God?
Have you received the mercy of God? And the forgiveness of God? Have you repented of your sins and cried out to Christ for forgiveness? Look to the cross. See him there.
Dying For our sins. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. that we might Die to sin. and live to righteousness. By his wounds we are healed.
And we say. Hallelujah. What? A Saviour. What love.
What an example. What a sacrifice. For sinners. Our Father, we come. As we Thank you.
of our Saviour That He suffered for us. that he bore our sins and his body on the tree and were overwhelmed. by your love and your grace. May we, Father, Always bow our head. To you are a Heavenly Father.
And commit every situation to you and keep looking. to Christ. Help us to remember him now. in his precious name. Amen.
This is the verdict with Pastor John Monroe and the conclusion of his message titled, Christ Suffered for You. What powerful truths Peter has shared Christ's suffering wasn't merely a historical event. It's the very foundation of our hope when facing life's injustices. Developing a Biblical perspective can deepen this hope even further. That's why we'd like to offer you, for the time is near.
John's insightful exploration of the Book of Revelation that offers a Biblical view of God's plan of salvation. This resource reveals how understanding the victory of Christ and His imminent return provides comfort and perspective for present day trials. When you better understand the big picture of God's plan, from the cross to the crown, we can live our lives with an internal perspective. Request your free copy of John's booklet today by going to our website at the verdict.org. Your partnership enables us to bring these life-changing biblical truths to listeners who desperately need encouragement.
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Now, here's Pastor John Monroe with closing remarks.
Well, what's your verdict? Have you received salvation from Jesus Christ? He leaves us a perfect example to follow when we're suffering. But We freely confess that we fall short. Remember Christ comes as our Saviour to save us from our sins.
I love Peter's expression. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. Have you been to the tree, the cross, and seen Jesus Christ dying for your sins? Believe in him, trust him. He died, was buried and rose again.
Hallelujah. What? A Savior? Thanks for joining us today on The Verdict. I'm Michelle Davies.
Today's program with Pastor John Monroe was produced and sponsored by Calvary Church in Charlotte, North Carolina.
