Freedom to Suffer

As Christians, it's not difficult to see that we're slowly but surely becoming marginalized in our culture.

And you can see this in the way ministers are looked at, the way churches are looked at, the way Christians are perceived.

In fact, even just a couple hundred years ago, the pastors in the neighborhood or in the city used to be the most educated people in the city or the town.

And the theology, the study of theology used to be considered the loftiest of all academic disciplines.

But that's clearly not the case now.

And in fact, the pastors are not so well regarded and those who follow Christianity, follow Christ, historic Christianity are considered regressive.

And in this kind of environment where Christians are seen as gullible at best and perhaps bigoted at worst, how are we supposed to live?

And how are we supposed to be witnessing in this kind of context?

And that's precisely the question that 1 Peter 3, verses 8 to 22 answers for us.

1 Peter 3:8–22

And here he teaches us that we are to be suffering witnesses for Christ because Christ is the suffering Savior for us.

So I think he does this by going through ways in which we're supposed to suffer.

And the first thing he tells us that we're supposed to suffer for one another as believers.

And the second thing he tells us that we are to suffer at the hands of others, non-believers.

And then the last thing he tells us to motivate us and give us hope in the midst of our suffering,

he tells us that Christ also suffered at the hands of others.

So first look with me at verse 8.

It says,

Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

So if you recall, we've gone through a series of, kind of a mini-series within a series of 1 Peter.

Each sermon entitled Freedom to Be Something.

So freedom to be subject to human institutions.

Freedom to submit and sacrifice in the husband and wife relationship.

And now here also a freedom to suffer.

And it's all in the same vein.

The reason that Peter gives is the same.

The command to suffer is grounded in the fact that we don't suffer at the hands of others because they deserve it.

Because they deserve that honor and they have that control or power over us.

Not because of that, but because we are submitted people to God as believers.

And in the way we honor God, we suffer at the hands of others.

So it's along that vein and as a summary to the believers that are listening to this or that are reading this.

So Peter is saying this verse 8 as a summary statement to all believers.

Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.

And this is important for our witness in the world because the way we live with one another is an important part of witness.

Because the world is watching.

They watch how we relate.

They watch how we talk to one another.

They watch how we serve one another.

And that becomes, again, a part of our witness to the world.

And if you look at this list in verse 8, usually if you have modern writers writing a list of things.

Let's say the list of things that you took with you when you moved.

Let's say I took my wife, my kids, and my computer, my guitars, and my, I don't know, my socks or whatever.

You list the things that are most important in the beginning and you list the things that are least important in the end.

In the Bible times when people wrote, they actually list things in kind of a sandwich structure.

So the most important thing you don't list first.

You actually list it in the middle.

And then the less important things are listed on the outside.

And so here you kind of see that structure.

It's a chiastic structure where finally all of you have unity of mind.

That's the first thing.

And at the end, it's a humble mind.

So those two things correspond.

And then in the middle, in the sympathy.

And then next, a tender heart.

So those two things also correspond.

And in the middle is brotherly love, which sums all of that up.

So that's the thing that commands it.

And I think what he means here is the first is unity of mind.

So it's, and that I don't think means uniformity, right?

That we need to have the same opinion, identical opinions about everything that we think,

the politics or religion or theology.

Rather, I think it's a call to disposition to be sensitive and to be discerning toward the beliefs,

toward the minds of others.

And that's why the corresponding item is humble mind.

We need to have, and humble mind, it's literally, it means lowly mind, base mind.

And that used to be a derogatory term in the ancient world.

But Christians have transformed that and used humility as a virtue.

In fact, they said that humility is the source of all virtues.

And that's because of the example of Christ.

Because he lived a life of humility, of humbling himself to his father,

even though he was equal with the father, he was God.

And so that kind of humility, have that kind of mind with one another.

That's what Peter's calling us to as believers.

And then, not just in our thinking, but also in our feeling.

Have sympathy.

That means to feel with, right?

To have a tender heart, to be compassionate toward one another.

That's how we're supposed to relate to one another, in our feeling.

And all of that, in a wonderful way, gets summarized in brotherly love.

And I've mentioned this before, but this is significant, right?

Because brotherly love is not like the love that you have for your friends.

Or even like the love that you have for your spouse.

Because you've got to choose whom you marry.

And you've got to choose whom you be friends with.

But you don't get to choose whom your brothers and sisters are, right?

Because that's not your choice.

But rather, it's the fact that you have the same father that makes them your brothers and sisters.

So sometimes siblings don't really get along very well, right?

And often that's the case.

The siblings don't get along very well.

But you still live with each other.

You suffer each other.

I mean, that's kind of what's intended here.

Is to have brotherly love, right?

So as Christians, and I think this is true.

If you look back at your own experience, this was certainly true of me.

Like my best friends in college were believers.

And one of them was like a heavyset African-American woman from Brooklyn.

One of them was a really like six feet something tall football player from California.

And another one was like, I mean, these were my best friends in college.

Not because we had anything in common.

In fact, I don't think we had anything in common.

Like, I mean, except for Christ, right?

We had the same Heavenly Father.

They were my brothers and sisters, right?

And that's exactly how we're supposed to love one another.

You know what, we're not here because we necessarily like all of us, like each other more than anybody else out there in terms of personality or interests or hobbies.

Anything like that.

No, but because we have the same God, same Father.

We're family by virtue of that reality.

And that's why we're supposed to have brotherly love.

And that's such a tender thing that I cherish about the biblical injunctions.

It tells us to love in a brotherly way.

And that's exactly how we witness to the watching world.

John 13, 35, it says,

By this all people will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.

And there is, so that's one way in which we're supposed to suffer as witnesses.

We suffer one another, right?

We suffer for one another.

And that's a part of our witness to the world.

And there's yet another way we're supposed to be suffering witnesses for Christ.

And that's by suffering at the hands of others as well.

Not just for one another, but also others outside.

From non-believers.

Look at verse 9.

It says,

Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless.

For to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.

So, because he's speaking of evil and reviling, we know that he's making a transition from addressing believers, the community of believers, to unbelievers who might revile us, who might speak evil of us.

And even in this context, he tells us, when they curse you, bless them.

Pray for them, right?

When they say a bad thing about you, return a good word to them.

In fact, offer the good word, good news of Jesus Christ to them, right?

That's the kind of relationship we're called to be in with unbelievers.

And it's really nothing more than an application of Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5, 44, where he says,

Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, right?

And Christians in Peter's day were particularly well acquainted with this.

Because if you look at some of the history books and look at the ways in which the pagan authors accused Christians or maligned Christians,

they spoke of them as people who are incestuous because they were married to one another,

but then they also called one another brother and sister, right?

So they thought that they were incestuous and they actually wrote about this.

They also accused Christians of being cannibals because they spoke of eating the body and blood of Christ, right?

So, I mean, it's funny, but like people who are outside, right, wouldn't have any way of verifying it.

So they kind of just kind of took off, these rumors spread, and Christians were really maligned.

And one of the most important ways in which they were maligned is that because they refused to worship the pagan gods

that Greek society, the Roman Empire was really built on.

And the people in the Roman Empire believed that if you don't appease these gods,

you're going to have bad things happen to you, bad things happen to your society and country.

So because of that, Christians were also despised because they said,

you are putting your personal interests ahead of the interest of society, empire.

And so Christians were despised for that reason.

So they were familiar with name-calling and persecution.

Yet Peter tells them, do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless.

For this, to this you are called that you may obtain a blessing.

And why should we do this?

And the reason that he gives is, for to this you are called, right?

And we talked about this earlier in 1 Peter, where it says in chapter 1, verses 14 to 19,

God says,

If you call on him as a father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds,

conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,

knowing that you are ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers,

not with the perishable things such as silver or gold,

but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

So the call that he's talking about is that the Father, Holy God called us.

He redeemed us, ransomed us with the precious blood of Christ,

so that we are now called to be holy because our Father is holy.

And because you belong to God now, this is what you're called to.

Even when you're reviled, you cannot stoop to their level and engage in profane acts

and be unholy in your dealing with others.

No, rather you are to bless them rather than cursing them, right?

And Peter knows that this is a difficult command,

so he gives us yet another reason.

And he tries to motivate us.

He says,

Because if you do this, you're going to obtain a blessing.

And that's reassuring.

And then he goes on to quote from Psalm 34, 12 to 16.

That's in verse 10 to 12, so you can follow along there.

For whoever desires to love life and see good days,

let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

Let him turn away from evil and do good.

Let him seek peace and pursue it.

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,

and his ears are open to their prayer.

But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.

This is almost a word for word quotation of Psalm 34, 12 to 16.

But what's very interesting is that he leaves out one part of a verse,

of the last verse, Psalm 34, 16.

Because it is supposed to end by saying this.

It says,

The face of the Lord is against those who do evil,

to cut off the memory of them from the earth.

Right?

But he leaves that out.

So why is Peter leaving that out?

And I think that's very intentional,

because he knows that the time for the judgment of the ungodly is not yet.

It's not now.

Right?

So right now is not a time of divine vengeance.

Rather, it's a time of divine patience.

So it says in chapter 3, verse 9 of Peter,

it says,

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some kind of slowness,

but is patient towards you,

not wishing that any should perish,

but that all should reach repentance.

Right?

Right?

And that's the reality that we live in now,

is that, yes, the kingdom has come,

but it has not yet been fulfilled.

And so we live in this kind of in-between age

where we are going to suffer at the hands of others.

The judgment of the wicked is not yet.

Yet we have this hope to hold on to,

and that's what Peter is referring to.

And of course, generally speaking, as believers,

if we do good toward other people and speak well of other people,

they're not going to be antagonistic or hate us.

Right?

I mean, generally, if we're nice to people, they're nice back to us.

And that's kind of what Peter's talking about in verse 13.

He says,

Now, who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

So he knows that that's generally the case.

But Peter's also aware that sometimes even good deed and good speech

will meet with hostility.

Right?

So he says, continues in verses 14 to 17.

Right?

And sometimes we will be persecuted for righteousness' sake.

And we talked about how doing good might lead to suffering

in the context of our employment,

in the context of our relationship in marriage,

in the context of our relationship to human institution

over the last three weeks.

And so Peter's kind of continuing that train of thought.

Yeah, we might suffer for doing good for society,

for doing good for people.

And when that happens,

he wants us to remember to not fear.

Do not have fear in your hearts, he says,

but he says, honor Christ as holy in your hearts.

And those two things are directly related

because if we have fear of people in our hearts,

we're going to do what they want us to do.

We're not going to be able to honor Christ.

But if we honor Christ as holy in our hearts

and we deem what Christ demands of us more highly

than what people demand of us

or what people tell us to do,

then we will be able to honor Christ as holy.

And so he reminds us in verse 12,

the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous.

He's watching us.

And his ears are open to their prayers.

So it's a picture of a God who is not aloof, right?

So he's not telling us,

well, I put you in this world

and if you follow me, you might suffer.

And he's saying, well, just hang in there

and then when you get back,

when you come to me,

then everything will be good.

No, he's with us.

He's intimately aware of what's going on.

His eyes are open toward us.

He's watching us and his ears are attentive.

He's open to our prayers.

But his face, it says, is set against those who do evil.

What a fearful thought as we think about.

And that's the same thing.

If we fear God, then we will not fear men in the same way.

If for, for, Ine just went to the beach this week

and she, and now, just first time, thanks to Lexi,

I think she actually enjoyed the beach.

And, and, and, and if she's,

because she's seen the waves now

and she's been in the big ocean,

she's not going to be scared of going into a kiddie pool,

which she actually used to be scared of, right?

In the same way, when we have encountered God

and been in the presence of God,

when we have, when we fear God,

we're going to be able to honor Him

rather than fearing what people will say of us

or want of us.

And, and so this is how we're supposed to demonstrate

our living hope, right?

So He calls us to demonstrate our living hope.

But He, God, Peter also calls us,

and God calls us through Him

also to defend our living hope, right?

And you see this in verse 15.

But in your hearts, honor Christ the Lord as holy,

always being prepared to make a defense

to anyone who asks you

for a reason for the hope that is in you.

Yet do it with gentleness and respect, right?

And making a defense is a legal,

it's legal terminology.

So it's the language of court.

So it's when you go into court

and your attorney makes a defense for you, right?

That's the kind of defense that's in mind here.

And He says to be able to ready to make a defense.

So if it's that kind of defense,

it's not something that you do haphazardly, right?

I mean, if you go into court,

the attorneys are extremely well prepared, right?

They, I mean, they do their homework.

They are, they know what to say.

They know how, they know their case.

They know how to defend their client, right?

In the same way for us,

we ought to know the living hope that we have.

We ought to live the living hope that we have

and be so intimately familiar with it

that we were able to defend it

and give a case for it when people ask us, right?

And notice how categorical and extensive this is

because He says,

always be prepared to make a defense

to anyone who asks you for a reason

for the hope that is in you.

So always be prepared at any time, every day,

when you're tired during the day

and you're going,

you're meeting someone on the street at night,

when you're at home,

we're talking and someone,

an unwelcome neighbor comes to visit you,

knocks on your door.

Any time of the day,

any way, always be prepared

and to anyone,

not just to your closest friends,

not just to your family,

but to anyone who would ask,

be ready to give a defense.

Always and to anyone,

we have to be ready to make a defense.

So then, in a way, then,

as Christians,

we live daily as those who are on trial.

We live as if we're in court,

as if we're being watched, right?

Because we know,

because we know that

if any opportunity that we have with people,

any kind that we have with them

can either draw them to God

or repel them from God, right?

And so we take those opportunities seriously

and we're prepared to make a defense

to anyone who comes, right?

So what would this practically look like?

So then if we're to demonstrate a living hope

and to give a defense for a living hope, right?

And if I saw a good example of this,

and I don't know if you guys follow things on social media at all,

so one of the people that I follow on Twitter

is Russell Moore.

He's an ethicist

and a professor at Boyce College, I think,

which is a Christian college in Louisville, Kentucky.

And he's kind of a public intellectual for Christians,

and so he's often in the news outlets.

And there was a time when

Donald Trump basically said

really insulting things about him.

He says, oh, he doesn't know what he's talking about

or something or whatever.

And then someone,

while Russell Moore was getting interviewed,

they asked Russell Moore,

so what do you think about this?

I mean, they try to put people in,

you know, start fights

because that brings more viewers.

And then Russell Moore instead said,

you know, what he said about me is exactly true.

I am a great sinner in need of great help,

and that's exactly why Jesus Christ came to die for me.

And so he didn't defend himself.

Rather, he defended the living hope that he has.

He bore under that suffering.

Even though he was maligned,

he was reviled.

He didn't revile back.

Instead, he blessed.

And in doing so,

he was able to give a credible witness

of the living hope that he has.

And so for us,

if we find out that, for example,

a neighbor's been gossiping about us

or slandering us,

instead of, you know,

lashing out and slandering them back

to our other neighbors,

you know, we say,

you know what,

there might be some truth to what you're saying,

and I need to become a better neighbor.

And say that, you know,

and then talk about how this is exactly why

you appreciate the grace of God,

and that he saves us not because we deserve it,

but because he loves us first.

Right?

And maybe it's,

and this is kind of,

some of you guys are very familiar with this,

but a couple of you guys at least went to

Bowdoin College,

where the Christian fellowship was kicked off campus

because of their,

because they subscribe to biblical sexual ethics,

and which is wildly malign now,

widely malign now in today's culture

because they see it as,

think of it as,

the world sees it as regressive.

And so because of that,

the fellowship was kicked off campus,

and they're not the only one.

Many campus fellowships,

Christian fellowships,

have been kicked off,

you know,

public universities

and private university campuses.

And,

and,

and I,

and many of them,

actually,

I don't know of any of them

actually going into law,

starting a lawsuit

to sue the school,

even though they probably could

come up with a compelling case

on the basis of the First Amendment,

they refuse to do that.

And when I talk to people

in those organizations,

what they say

is that

they're refusing to

take into court

to,

to sue

the very people

that they're called to witness to.

They're saying,

God called us to witness

to these people

in colleges,

these administrators,

these students.

Yeah,

how can we then go and sue them

for this,

right?

So,

they're living this,

this reality.

They're saying,

they're being,

they're suffering because of Christ.

They're suffering for doing good,

upholding God's vision

for what is good in society.

That's what they're doing

and for that reason,

they're getting kicked off campus,

not being able to take advantage

of school funds,

facilities,

yet they're doing that

for the sake

of credible witness.

They suffer

so that they can be

credible witnesses

to the campuses

that they're at.

And,

I don't mean to say

that this means

we should just be pushovers

and get,

you know,

suffer everything,

you know,

let people take advantage of us

whenever they want

and be,

just be people

without backbones.

Because if you look at

the example of Apostle Paul,

he frequently

uses his Roman citizenship,

right,

to get his legal rights.

So,

for example,

when they imprison him

without questioning

and beat him

without due process,

he says,

well,

I'm a Roman citizen.

And then the guards are like,

oh,

no,

he's a Roman citizen.

And then they get scared

and they let him go,

right?

So he,

and at one point,

he even appeals to Caesar

on the ground

that he has the right

as a Roman citizen

to appeal to Caesar

when he's not satisfied

with the local judgments.

So he does do that.

So there is a nuance there,

but the same principle applies,

I would say,

because why is Paul doing that?

Why is he using his legal rights

to get an audience with Caesar

and to get out of prison?

Because he does that

so that he has a platform

for witness.

He does that so that

he could advance the gospel,

right?

So that's the underlying motive.

And that's exactly the same

for us in our suffering,

right?

So we suffer,

not in just any case,

not just to get taken

all over the place,

but rather we suffer

so that we could advance

the gospel.

So then when we're suffering

at the hands of others,

the question to ask

is not,

you know,

can I win this case?

Or, you know,

do I,

what do I have to gain?

Right?

Those are not

the questions we ask.

Rather,

the question we ask

is what in this situation

would most advance

the gospel?

What in this,

what action,

what speech,

what in this situation

will make

the living hope

that we have in Christ

more glorious

than the other things

that we can do?

Right?

That's the criterion.

It's not personal gain.

It's not about selfishness.

It's about what we can do

or how we can be used

of God in that situation.

But,

if you're honest

with yourself,

yes,

as I also have to admit,

is that suffering

is difficult

even when

we deserve the suffering.

But if that's the case,

then how can we suffer

unjustly

at the hands of others?

And this is why

Peter comes to his

final exhortation

and motivation

verses 18 to 22.

He says,

for Christ also suffered

once for sins,

the righteous

for the unrighteous,

that he might bring us

to God,

being put to death

in the flesh

but made alive

in the spirit,

in which he went

and proclaimed

to the spirits

in prison,

because they formerly

did not obey

when God's patience

waited in the days

of Noah,

while the ark

was being prepared,

in which a few,

that is eight persons,

were brought safely

through water.

So this is probably

really confusing

for some of you guys.

This is a notoriously

difficult passage

and let me just

take a brief excursus

to explain

what's going on

before I connect

the logic

of what Peter

is trying to say.

And see,

if you look at

verse 18,

it says that

Christ,

being put to death

in the flesh

but made alive

in the spirit,

so this is before,

after his death

on the cross

in the flesh,

but before

his bodily resurrection

because he says

he was alive

in the spirit,

right?

So in that intervening time

between his death

and resurrection,

Christ,

it says,

went to

and proclaimed

to the spirits

in prison

because they formerly

did not obey

when God's patience

waited in the days

of Noah.

So the days of Noah

is the clue here.

If you go to

Genesis 6,

1 to 3,

it says this,

it says,

when man began

to multiply

on the face

of the land

and daughters

were born to them,

the sons of God

saw that the daughters

of man were attractive

and they took

as their wives

any they chose.

Then the Lord said,

my spirit shall not

abide in man forever

for he is flesh.

His days shall be

120 years.

The Nephilim

were on the earth

in those days

and also afterward

when the sons of God

came into the daughters

of man

and they bore children

to them.

These were the mighty men

who were of old,

the men of renown.

So nearly all

Jewish rabbis

and scholars

throughout the ages

understood

these spirits

in prison

as the angels

of God

or the sons of God,

the angels

who left

their proper station

and had conjugal

relations basically

with human

woman.

And in doing so

were punished

by God

and put in

prison.

And this is kind of

you see

this similar

verse

in Jude 6

it says

the angels

who did not stay

within their own

position of authority

but left their

proper dwelling

God has kept

in eternal chains

under gloomy darkness

until the judgment

of the great day.

So I think that's

what he's referring

to here

and there's

a few other ways

you can understand this

and if you want

to know about those

I'd be happy

to tell you

afterward

so come up

and ask me.

But the word

angel

when it's used

in plural

without specifying

that it's

I mean word

spirit

when it's in the plural

without specifying

that it's human spirit

it almost always

throughout the Bible

refers to

angelic beings

so spirits.

And secondly

also

the phrase

of imprisonment

the language

of imprisonment

is not used

for a place

that humans go to

but it is used

of a place

that angels go to

as described

in Revelation 27

2 Peter 2

4

Jude 6

so those are

the reasons

why I think

that this is

the best interpretation

I don't think

that means

that this is

happening

all over the place

now

I mean

this seems

to have been

once in a

history of humanity

kind of event

where God

decisively

put an end

to it

and punished

those angelic

beings

and

so

the reason

why

Peter's

mentioning

this

is

that

at the time

Noah was

building the ark

he was ridiculed

right

because he's

saying

you're a fool

there's no

flood coming

why are you

building this ark

right

and he

lived a righteous

life

in contrast

to everybody

else in his

generation

and

because of that

he was maligned

as well

but Noah

who was maligned

just like

the believers

were being maligned

in Peter's day

was ultimately

vindicated

right

he and his

family alone

survived the flood

and they were

vindicated by

God himself

and that's why

Peter's mentioning

Noah here

he's saying

that you know

what just like

Noah

who though maligned

later was

vindicated

believers nowadays

though you suffer

now

though you are

maligned now

by unbelievers

you will be

eventually vindicated

is what he's saying

and

and

and even more

significant

than the example

of Noah

of course

is the example

of Christ

and that's

that's the ultimate

example that he gives

as a true source

because it says

verse 18

for Christ

also suffered

once for sins

the righteous

for the unrighteous

that he might

bring us

to God

and then

Christ suffered

also

in our place

so we're not

the only one

suffering

our Lord

and King

and Savior

also suffered

and then if you

look at what

happened

in verse 22

it says

Christ has now

gone into heaven

and is at the

right hand

of God

with angels

authorities

and powers

having been

subjected

to him

now this is

an even more

comforting

even more comforting

than Noah's

vindication

because Christ

now has all

authority

everything has

been subjected

to him

even though

he was humbled

to the point

of death

even death

on a cross

Christ

the righteous

one

suffering

at the hands

of the unrighteous

and he

suffers

so that

we might

be saved

and

that's why

I would say

it's very easy

I think

in our context

we live

in an egalitarian

society

and everybody

is all about

getting our rights

so we want

we don't

I mean

as good citizens

we don't expect

to be treated

better than other

people

we don't expect

preferential treatment

but we do

expect equal

treatment

so when we

feel like

we're cheated

we want

treated fairly

then we protest

because we expect

to be treated

equally

but I think

this passage

teaches us

that while

it might be

quintessentially

American

to insist

on our rights

it is

quintessentially

Christian

to give up

our rights

for the sake

of others

and this

it says

and that's

exactly what

Christ did for us

if you look at

his example

in Philippians 2

even though

he was in

the very nature

God

he did not

consider equality

with God

something to be grasped

but rather

he humbled himself

by taking the very

nature of a servant

and humbled himself

to a point of death

in obedience

even death upon a cross

so if

that's what

Christ did

and that's the basis

for Paul's command

in Philippians

therefore

consider others

interests

better than yourselves

so as Christians

we're not supposed

to just think

their interest

as important

as my interest

we're supposed

to consider

other people's

interests

better than our own

higher than our own

and that's what

we're called to

and if

and that's

because that's

exactly what

Christ did for us

he didn't have to die

he's the only person

that ever lived

that didn't have to die

didn't have to pay

for sin

didn't have to suffer

yet he suffered

for us

yet he died

for our sins

so we can be

reconciled to God

our father

so if then

our savior

and our king

humbled himself

in that way

unjustly suffered

in that way

for the sake

of bringing us

to him

restoring us

to God

then can we

as his

lowly servants

not suffer

in the same way

in order

to be a credible

witness

so we can

help restore

others

to God

as well

I think

that's a very

difficult

task

so I think

it's only fitting

that we

conclude

at this time

by praying

together

that God

would help us

with this

so if you

look at your

worship guide

God

消 по

God

it's only

got this

ело

to Gottes

something

is

my

hope

make

sure

and

Matthew