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You can turn in your Bibles to 
1 Peter 2. For our meditation before we 
participate in the Lord's Supper, 1 Peter 2, our focus will be 
on verses 21-25. But I'll begin reading in verse 
18. Servants, be submissive to your 
masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also 
to the harsh. For this is commendable, if, 
because of conscience toward God, one endures grief, suffering 
wrongly. For what credit is it, if, when 
you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when 
you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable 
before God. For to this you were called, 
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, 
that you should follow His steps. who committed no sin, nor was 
deceit found in his mouth, who, when he was reviled, did not 
revile in return. When he suffered, he did not 
threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously, 
who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that 
we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness, by whose 
stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going 
astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer 
of your souls. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our 
Father, we thank You for the written Word, and we pray now 
for the ministry of the Spirit who gave us this Word. We pray 
that He would be in our minds and hearts, and that He would 
shine the light upon this passage of Scripture, that we would have 
fond thoughts of our Lord Jesus as we go into the supper tonight. 
Help us to recall His substitutionary atonement on behalf of His people. 
Help us to think through the implications of this One who 
bore our sins on the cross. How great You are, Lord God, 
and how wonderful is the gospel of free and sovereign grace, 
and how much we rejoice that You have called us to Yourself 
through Your Son, the Lord Jesus. So fill us now with Your Holy 
Spirit. Forgive us now from all of our 
sins and our transgressions. Wash us in the blood of the Lord 
Jesus, and we pray in His most blessed name. Amen. Well, the 
primary reason that Christ came into this world was to save His 
people from their sins. Oftentimes, Pastor Porter and 
I make sure, try to highlight that reality. In the first place, 
He didn't come to be an example, but primarily He came to be an 
atonement, to be a substitute on behalf of His people. But 
having said that, that does not take away from the reality that 
He is an example. And both Peter here, Paul elsewhere, 
show us or point us to the Lord Jesus when it comes to certain 
types of conduct. And in this particular context, 
he's talking to servants. In fact, one of the overarching 
themes in 1 Peter is submission to authority over you. And in 
this particular section, it is servants being submissive to 
their masters. In the previous section, it's 
everyone submitting to the civil government. In the following 
section, we find wives being submissive to their own husbands. 
So, it's a repetitive theme in Peter's epistle here. This is 
what the Christian life worked out in life looks like. It is 
submitting to lawful authority over us. And so, Peter sets forth 
a duty in verse 18. He says, servants, be submissive 
to your masters with all fear. Notice the specifics. not only 
to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. In other words, 
it's easy to be submissive to those who are good and gentle. 
The challenge comes when we have to be submissive to one who is 
harsh. So it makes sense that Peter would point us to the example 
of the Lord Jesus, who submits to those who are harsh toward 
Him. Men wanted to destroy Him. Men wanted to kill Him and crucify 
Him. And nevertheless, He was indeed submissive. In the next 
two verses, Peter sets forth or explains why this is pleasing 
to God. Notice in verse 19, for this 
is commendable. If, because of conscience toward 
God, one endures grief, suffering wrongly. See, I don't think we 
always think the way the Bible calls us to think. In other words, 
if we are servants submitting to our masters and we are doing 
it in a manner that is consistent with God's Word, we can have 
that peace and that assurance and that comfort and encouragement 
that God is pleased in that. I think sometimes we think that 
God is pleased with, you know, pioneer missionaries, or God 
is pleased with the C.H. Spurgeons and the John Calvins. 
God doesn't really notice those servants, however, that are submitting 
to their masters. Well, Peter tells us opposite 
to that. Peter tells us that this is commendable before the 
Lord God Most High. I think that the Bible gives 
dignity to every calling and to every vocation. It doesn't 
matter where you find yourself in the wide spectrum, of lawful 
callings. You can do what you do for the 
glory of God and rest assured that He takes note of it and 
that it's commendable to Him when servants are submissive 
in this manner. Peter goes on in verse 20, for 
what credit is it? If when you are beaten for your 
faults, you take it patiently. In other words, you deserve it. 
You ought to take it patiently. But when you do good and suffer, 
if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. So 
you see, Peter's emphasis here, for the servants being submissive 
to their masters. Now here he motivates, or now 
here he encourages, or he points them to the example of our Lord 
Jesus. So the primary purpose, Christ 
came to make substitutionary atonement. But we can certainly 
draw out practical lessons in terms of example, and that is 
precisely what Peter does in verses 21 to 25. So, we'll notice 
two things. First, the description of Christ's 
redemptive suffering, and then secondly, the result of Christ's 
redemptive suffering. Note in the first place the description, 
verses 21 to 24a. It is intriguing that the backdrop 
here is Isaiah the prophet. Pastor Porter read Isaiah 53 
and while Peter specifically quotes Isaiah 53 verse 9 in verse 
22, Peter alludes to the prophet Isaiah chapter 53 several times 
in the space of a few verses. In verse 22, Isaiah 53, 9 is 
quoted specifically. Verse 23, Isaiah 53, verse 7, 
several clauses in verse 7 are alluded to. In verse 24, we find 
Isaiah 53, 12 and Isaiah 53, 4 and 5. And then, of course, in 1 Peter 
2.25, we see Isaiah 53, verse 6, where we like sheep have gone 
astray, but we have been recovered by the shepherd and overseer 
of our souls. So, in many respects, what Peter 
is doing is simply applying this suffering servant song to these 
servants in his audience, and he is telling them to likewise 
be the way that Christ conducted Himself. And Peter develops here 
first the person of Christ and the work of Christ. Notice he 
refers to the person of Christ in terms of his incarnation. 
He doesn't spell out, he doesn't get into the particulars, he 
doesn't give us a broad, detailed explanation. But notice specifically 
in verse 24, "...who himself bore our sins in his own body." 
This is a reference, obviously, to the form of Christ as a servant. The fact that He came and He 
took on our nature. The fact that He came and He 
identified with man. The fact that He came and He 
took all our common infirmities, and yet without sin. Christ bore 
our sin in His own body. The description of His suffering 
for His people indicates that it was in the flesh. Christ literally, 
Christ really, Christ affirmatively suffered in His flesh. This does 
not negate the soulish suffering of Christ. We see that in the 
garden. His soul was exceedingly sorrowful, 
even unto death. But when Peter highlights this 
in the fleshness, I think Peter wants to encourage his readers 
that just as they are in the flesh, they need to submit to 
some difficult things as well. And our Lord Christ did so in 
order to bear the sin of all those whom the Father had given 
Him. He highlights with reference to the person of Christ the fact 
that He is sinless. Notice what Peter says in verse 
21, For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered 
for us, leaving us an example that you should follow His steps, 
who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth. Those 
who have been here for any period of time know where I'm going 
to go in the next few seconds. The closer you are to someone, 
the more you see their sin. Steele and Rebecca are going 
to get married on Saturday. By Sunday, they're going to learn 
some things about each other that they hadn't previously known. 
My dear wife is being surprised each and every day after 30 long 
years. I can't imagine how I never saw 
these things before. The more familiar we are with 
a person, the more we see their shortcomings. The more familiar 
we are with a person, the more we see their sins. And it's an 
unfortunate reality of the human condition that those we're most 
familiar with, we typically sin the most against. There are things 
we'll do to our wonderful brides or husbands that we wouldn't 
do to other people. We wouldn't be rude the way that 
we are to our wives or to our husbands. You know, if there 
was company over, there's certain things we just wouldn't do. Notice 
that Peter spent three years with the Lord Jesus. Consider 
that. Three years with the Lord Jesus. Could someone spend three years 
with you and then say, who committed no sin, nor was deceit found 
in his mouth? Could they spend three seconds 
with you? Could they spend three minutes with you? Could they 
spend three long years and be able to testify what Paul says 
elsewhere? He was holy and harmless and 
undefiled. This Lord Jesus Christ identifies 
with us in all our common infirmities. He takes on our flesh. He assumes 
our nature and yet without sin. Notice the specific concrete 
application of this. Verse 23, verse 22 rather, the 
statement is given, and now notice verse 23, who when he was reviled 
did not revile in return. You see how helpful that would 
be for a servant who is being treated harshly. Your master 
is reviling, be like your master and don't revile in return. When 
he suffered, he did not threaten, but notice positively at the 
end of verse 23, but he committed himself to Him who judges righteously. Now certainly, as Jesus is holy, 
harmless, and undefiled, as Jesus is this perfect being, we notice 
in the first place that he does fulfill the law of God, the act 
of obedience of our Lord Jesus. But also, he is the sinless one, 
to provide the perfect sacrifice. Remember, the Levitical law stipulated 
that when you brought your offering to the temple, you didn't bring 
the lame, you didn't bring the maimed, you didn't bring the 
blind, you didn't bring the one that was cancerous and diseased 
and was going to die. No, you went to the flock and 
you selected the best from your flock, because you're serving 
the best God. You're serving Yahweh of Israel. 
And our God deserves the best of your flock. Our God deserves 
what the temple signified. The temple, with all its pomp 
and splendor and show and glory, was fitting for the great king. 
And so when the worshipper selected his animal, he picked the best. 
If he was a faithful Israelite, we know of course from Malachi 
not everybody operated on that principle. But you see our Lord 
Jesus, holy, harmless, and undefiled. Our Lord Jesus is the spotless 
one. Our Lord Jesus, in the language of John the Baptist, is the Lamb 
of God who takes away the sin of the world. This one never 
sinned. So he does fulfill and serve 
and complete the act of obedience of Christ. But he's also the 
perfect substitute to stand in the place of very imperfect people. Now notice, Peter highlights 
the work of Christ, still under the description of his redemptive 
suffering. He states simply the fact of 
his suffering and death. Notice his suffering referred 
to in verse 23. It says, "...who, when he was 
reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not 
threaten." Now, the suffering there is according to Jesus in 
the form of a servant. It's according to his humanity. 
As God, Jesus does not suffer. This is what the doctrine of 
divine impassibility teaches. The divine essence does not suffer. 
It is not provoked. There is no emotivity. There 
is no sort of reaction or response. So, Peter is highlighting the 
person of Christ in terms of his humanity. Christ suffered. The doctrine of divine impassibility 
ought never lead us to reduce that reality and that truth. 
Our blessed Lord suffered. Our blessed Lord went to great 
lengths to save us from our sins. Our blessed Lord was identified 
as the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Our blessed Lord 
in the Garden of Gethsemane sweated drops of blood. under the prospect 
of the coming wrath of God. Our blessed Lord was slapped 
by a Roman soldier. Our blessed Lord was spat upon 
by wicked men. Our blessed Lord heard the cries 
of people saying, away with him, away with him, crucify him. You see what Peter is doing? 
You may think you have problems as a servant with your master, 
but you ain't seen nothing yet. You haven't felt the full force 
of man's rebellion and man's mutiny against you. You certainly 
haven't entered in or tasted what the wrath and fury of God 
is all about. What is it on the cross that 
Jesus cries out concerning? It's not from the assault of 
men. It's, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? It's when 
the Father, as it were, turned his back upon the Son. That is 
what caused the Son of God to cry out. So when Peter refers 
to his suffering here, we need to embrace that. We need to understand 
that. We need to contemplate that and 
meditate upon that blessed reality. And notice, His death is referred 
to specifically in verse 24, "...who Himself bore our sins 
in His own body on the tree." On the tree, obviously, is a 
reference to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. The particular 
choice here probably harkens back to Deuteronomy 21. Cursed 
is one who is hung on a tree. Paul the Apostle quotes that 
in Galatians chapter 3. We see, I believe it's Peter 
in Acts 5, and again in Acts 10, use the image of tree. It is the violent death as a 
criminal on the cross. Again, just in its exemplary 
context, You servants, be submissive to your own masters. You servants, 
be submissive to your own masters. If it rises up in your hearts 
to complain and rebel and revile and just be a whiner and a sniveler, 
then look at your Lord, look at what Jesus went through, look 
at the suffering He endured, and look at the death that He 
endured on behalf of guilty, vile, helpless, wretched sinners. 
Now, Peter, I think, draws out the significance of his suffering 
and death. Notice it was substitutionary 
in nature. Verse 24, this is beautiful. "...who himself bore our sins 
in his own body on the tree." That's the language of substitutionary 
atonement. That's the language that you 
and I can hang our souls upon. It's because of that, in concert 
with the act of obedience to be sure, that we're going to 
go to heaven. He bore our sins in His own body 
on the tree. These are the persons identified 
in 1 Peter 1, verse 2, the elect according to the foreknowledge 
of God the Father in sanctification of the Spirit for obedience and 
sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Turn back to John's Gospel. It is never a hurtful thing. It is never a tiring thing or 
a tiresome thing for a believer to reflect upon substitutionary 
atonement. Notice in John 10, verse 11, 
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life 
for the sheep. Substitution. Christ gives His 
life for the sheep. Substitutionary atonement. I've 
already referred to Galatians 3. You may turn there. Galatians 
3, specifically verse 13. Pick it up in context, verse 
10, Galatians 3.10, For as many as are of the works of the law 
are under the curse, for it is written, Cursed is everyone who 
does not continue in all things which are written in the book 
of the law to do them. You see why you're in a bad state 
if you reject the Lord Jesus? If you continue to not believe 
the gospel, if you continue in unrepentance, if you continue 
to reject the proffered mercy, the proffered grace of God, or 
the offer of grace by God in the gospel, then you are choosing 
to go about it in your own strength, according to the law. It's only 
one of two ways of approach to the Father. It is either through 
the blood atonement of our Lord Jesus, or it's through our own 
sweat, work, and labor. But notice what the Apostle says. 
is everyone who does not continue, in all things which are written 
in the book of the law, to do them. This is why persons who 
say, you know, I'm a pretty good person, I've never killed anyone, 
I've never revolted against the government, I pay my taxes, I've 
never committed adultery, I think, all in all, I'm a pretty good 
guy or girl. Well, you ask them, do you ever 
say, well, yeah, you know, I'm not perfect. Well, you need to 
be perfect. That's the rub. Cursed is everyone who does not 
continue in all things that the law specifies. It needs to be 
perfect, perpetual, exact, entire obedience to the law of God. 
This is the beauty of the Christian gospel. Jesus comes and he obeys 
the Father at every step. Jesus does continue in all things 
that the law specifies. Jesus does provide an act of 
obedience for his people or a righteousness for his people through his act 
of obedience. And he dies as the sinless one in our place 
and takes the wrath and fury of God. This is why the gospel 
is good news. It's beautiful news. It's glorious 
news. We can never tire of this news. 
This supper ought to always remind us of this news and ought to 
cause us, like David, to whirl about and dance before the ark 
of the Lord. We have much to be thankful for, 
brethren. And like David, we ought to say 
to the Michaels who would detract and would say, why would you 
do that? You ain't seen nothing yet. My God is so great and glorious 
and good. My Christ is so beautiful in 
what He's done on my behalf. I can't but praise Him. I can't 
but celebrate, and I can't but thank Him. Notice, verse 11, 
but that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God 
is evident, for the just shall live by faith. Yet the law is 
not of faith, but the man who does them shall live by them. 
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become 
a curse for us. Substitutionary atonement. When 
Jesus went to the cross, and know this, brethren, Peter is 
not teaching exemplary atonement here. He is saying it's the redemptive 
benefit of Christ wrought by his substitutionary atonement. 
The fact that he has saved you by this means is the reason why 
now you can look at him for instruction on how to submit to your masters. 
You know, when we look at the cross, we are not to be just 
swooning with or affected by an emotional response. Now, it's not wrong to have that 
response, but we need to appreciate what transacted upon the cross. The just for the unjust. He bore our sins in His body 
on the tree. Paul says, cursed is everyone 
who hangs on a tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come 
upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise 
of the Spirit through faith. So back to 1 Peter, the substitutionary 
nature of his work. You can look at Ephesians 5.2, 
Titus 2.14, Hebrews 7.27, Hebrews 9.28, and all of this underscores 
the reality that what God does at the cross is He takes our 
sin and He lays it upon the Savior. That's the meaning. That's the 
emphasis. "...who himself bore our sins." 
How did Christ bear our sins? Because of 2 Corinthians 5.21. God made him who knew no sin 
to be sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God 
in him. The Bible teaches the doctrine of imputation. In Adam, 
all die, right? Because of Adam's sin, we are 
constituted sinners. But because of Christ's life, 
death, and resurrection, we are constituted righteous, because 
our sins have been heaped upon Him, and He took them in our 
place, or He took the punishment in our place. John Gill explains, 
His burying them was in this manner. He becoming the surety 
and substitute of His people. Their sins were laid upon Him 
by His Father. That is, they were imputed to 
Him. They were reckoned as His and 
placed to His account. And Christ voluntarily took them 
upon Himself. Please don't miss these beautiful 
words. Please don't undercut what this 
dear brother is saying. Please do not neglect what the 
Bible teaches in terms of substitutionary atonement. Christ voluntarily 
goes to the cross for us. Christ goes to bear our sins 
in His own body on the tree. He goes on, they were reckoned 
as his and placed to his account. Christ voluntarily took them 
upon himself. He took them to himself as one 
may take the debt of another and make himself answerable for 
it. There are some beautiful statements 
concerning this whole idea. We see it in the Day of Atonement 
in Leviticus 16. Remember, there's two goats on 
that day. One of them is cut and the blood 
is sprinkled in the Ark of the Covenant. And there's that scapegoat. And what happens? The high priest 
takes his hands. I mean, brethren, if you were 
a believer back then watching this ceremony, it would have 
been akin to the Lord's Supper. It was a reminder of what God 
had done. It's a reminder of expiation, 
the removal of sins. It's a reminder of the fact that 
God has not dealt with us according to our sins. But that high priest 
would lay his hands upon that goat, that innocent goat, that 
victim, that helpless one, that sinless one. And when the priest 
laid his hands upon that goat, what did he do? He confessed 
the sins of Israel. He confessed their iniquities. 
Lord God, we have had other gods before you. Lord God, we have 
been idolaters. Lord God, we have blasphemed 
your name. Lord God, we have broken your 
Sabbath. Lord God, we have dishonored 
our parents. Lord God, we have murdered. We 
have committed adultery. We have stolen. We have lied 
and borne false witness and we have coveted. We have been right 
wretched before a holy God. And then that goat would be driven 
out into the wilderness. What's the picture? What's the 
emblem? What's being communicated? My 
sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought, my sin not in part but 
the whole, is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more. Praise 
the Lord, praise the Lord. Now, in that setting it wasn't 
nailed to the cross, it was imputed to this goat and it was sent 
out into the wilderness. It's a beautiful picture of substitutionary 
atonement. It's a beautiful picture of the 
doctrine of imputation. Isaiah 53.6, a passage alluded 
to by Peter in verse 25, and the Lord has laid on Him the 
iniquity of us all. John 1, 29, the Lamb of God who 
does what? He takes away the sin of the 
world. 2 Corinthians 5, 21, For He, God, made Him who knew no 
sin to be sin for us. The sense is legal or forensic. Jesus didn't become an actual 
sinner. It's like, we don't become actually 
righteous. Now, certainly in sanctification 
we pursue that, but in terms of justification, it's legal. It's forensic. It is declarative, 
and that's what happens with the Son of God. The Father heaps 
our sin upon Him, and that's how Peter can say, who bore our 
sins in His own body on the tree. Now note the result of His redemptive 
suffering. Two things, the freedom of His 
people and the recovery of His people. Note first the freedom 
of His people. They are freed from the penalty 
of sin. who himself bore our sins in 
his own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins." I would 
suggest that this is the freedom from the penalty of sin. having 
died to sin, the same sort of dying to sin that Paul speaks 
of in Romans 6, 1-4. Paul then gets practical and 
talks about what that means in terms of our lives and sanctification, 
but there is that definitive breach There is that death to 
sin. There is that blessed freedom. There is that blessed reality 
that the penalty of sin is no longer due us. Why? Because He Himself bore our sins 
in His body on the tree. If Christ bore our sins in His 
body on the tree, then believers can say with Paul in Romans 8, 
1, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are 
in Christ Jesus. Does that ever just give you 
a little burst of joy? I was talking to a brother recently, 
and he said something to this effect. I have a lot of sin, 
and I'm a wretch, and I got these problems, but you know what? 
I do love God. The reason he loves God is because 
God has saved him from his sins. God has spared him. Christ bore 
his sin in his body on the tree. Brethren, do you ever just get 
a smile on your face or in your soul when you consider Romans 
8.1? There is, therefore, now, no 
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. By the grace 
of God, I'm believing in Christ Jesus. Therefore, there's no 
condemnation for me. Whatever my problems between 
now and then are, this much I know, it will be Emmanuel that receives 
me on that day into His fair land. I will be able to sing 
the King there in His beauty. It will be the bride eyeing the 
bridegroom's face. Brethren, there is therefore 
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The 
believer is delivered from the curse of the law. Again, the 
penalty of sin. This is what Paul says in Galatians 
3.13. He became a curse. Why? So that the blessing of 
Abraham may come upon us. so that we may be ushered into 
the adoption of sons by Jesus Christ. It is a blessed and wonderful 
thing that we have been freed from the penalty of sin, and 
the believer is delivered from the wrath of God. Under this 
hat, these are just teasing out some of the implications, having 
died to sins. Notice the second leg of freedom. 
We're freed from the power of sin. You see, brethren, never 
get to the point as a Christian to say, well, I just can't fight 
this sin. I just can't put this sin to death. I just can't gain 
victory here. Well, you better watch it, because 
according to Peter, you've died to sin so that you might live 
for righteousness. According to Paul, same thing 
in Romans 6, you've died to sin. Now, do not present your members 
as instruments of unrighteousness. You see brethren, it may not 
be the case that you can't, it may be the case that you won't, 
or that you really don't want to. You see brethren, God has 
given every resource in terms of the cross. He has broken not 
only the penalty of sin, but the power of sin. We're no longer 
under sin's dominion. We're no longer under that control. Now there will be remaining corruption. Butler is not preaching Wesleyan 
perfectionism. I do not believe that for one 
moment. But brethren, we have, by the 
grace of God, been freed from the penalty and from the power. 
We have been supplied with the Holy Spirit. And according to 
Peter, we've not only died to sins, but we have now the ability 
to live for righteousness. And then notice finally, verse 
25, the recovery of this people. For you were like sheep going 
astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer 
of your souls. This speaks This is the reason 
why, or this for, harkens back to verse 24. It's because He 
bore our sins in His body on the tree. that He recovered us. It's because of substitutionary 
atonement. It's because of the righteousness 
of Christ. It's because of the death of 
Jesus Christ that we have been sought out and recovered. Now 
note the verb that's employed. For you are like sheep going 
astray, but have now returned. That now returned almost makes 
it sound like we did something, doesn't it? Like, one day we 
woke up, it was a Thursday, and we thought, wow, I'm far from 
God. I'm just going to return to God. It's a passive verb, 
brethren. That means that God returned us. It could also be seen as conversion. God converted us. And there's 
a sense where conversion refers to the faith and repentance that 
we have that closes us with Christ. But that faith and repentance 
is given to us by God. God is active in conversion. 
God is active in this returning. It's not that we woke up on Thursday 
saying, wow, I'm estranged from God, I need to go back. No, it's 
that God woke us up on Thursday and said, you're coming to me. 
And we didn't kick and scream and whine and cry because the 
Spirit of God made us willing in the day of His power. It's 
a very powerful statement. For you were like sheep going 
astray. Note the comparison. I love what 
D. Edmund Hebert says. The comparison of sinners to 
straying sheep is a common biblical figure. You've all heard that, 
haven't you? All we like sheep have gone astray. 
What do you think when I say sheep? Cuddly, white, soft, and 
nice. That's what I think. I've never 
had to work with sheep. From what I understand, there's 
a book by a guy who was a shepherd, and he says, they're not always 
white and cuddly and nice and soft. Hebert says, the comparison 
of sinners to straying sheep is a common biblical figure. 
He says, it is not a complementary comparison, since sheep are notoriously 
dull, prone to stray, and helpless to find their way back. Straying 
sheep, lost in the wilderness or mountains and exposed to wild 
beasts and destruction, present a wretched picture of the needy 
state of the lost. You see, on Thursday morning, 
that's what we look like. Or better yet, on a Sunday morning 
or Sunday evening, that's what we look like. We didn't decide 
for Jesus. We didn't say, I'm going to cast 
in my lot with the Redeemer. No, He sought us. He came after 
us. The imagery of shepherd and overseer, 
rich and beautiful. This idea of have now returned 
or have been returned. Listen to Gil again. He says, 
not return themselves, but were returned by powerful and efficacious 
grace. Don't you love the doctrines 
of grace? It's unfortunate that we just 
look at them as a battleground with our minions. Our hearts 
should be warm as we consider the ulep. The T's a bit depressing 
when we consider it describes us. I don't know of any of us 
that would say, well, I'm so happy to be totally depraved. 
But the ulip is all very encouraging, isn't it? And you know, paradoxically, 
it's the tea that brings about the ulip under the sovereignty 
of God. So yeah, don't sit there and 
rejoice and bask in the fact of your total depravedness or 
depravity, but the ulip, the unconditional election. God chose 
me not because I'm lovely. God chose me not because I'm 
good. God chose me not because I was going to perform well. 
God chose me because He's God. What about the L, limited atonement? 
No, we don't like that. That sounds mean. It sounds unkind 
and unfair and unrighteous. The fact that Christ would lay 
down His life for one wretched sheep is enough reason to praise 
Him for eternity. The fact that He saves a whole 
host of men, a group that no one can number from every tribe, 
tongue, people and nation. The fact that He doesn't partially 
atone. The fact that He doesn't help 
us. But the fact that through His blood He saves us. Brethren, 
these things ought to lift our spirits, the eye, the irresistible 
grace. Again, this conception that the 
Spirit brings us, dragging to God, and we're kicking and screaming 
and whining. No, He makes us willing in the day of His power. 
He changes our hearts and thus our affections and our will, 
and we come to God most happily. We come to Jesus most joyfully. This is what's underscored here. You've been returned. You were 
straying. You were gone. You were a sheep. 
You were prey to every sort of destruction and wretched day. 
And yet our God sought you out. And when our God sought you out, 
He brings you back to the fold. Guess what the good news is? 
You're never going to leave again. I mean, you may stray a little 
bit. You may push the boundaries at times, but you're never going 
to be lost. Once our blessed God goes and 
fetches you, you are safe and secure. You will persevere by 
His grace, because He has purpose to preserve you, and to keep 
you, and to put His fear in your heart, so that you may not depart 
from Him. This is what Peter alludes to. 
This is what Peter is highlighting. This is what Gil is explaining. 
Not return themselves, but we're returned by powerful and efficacious 
grace. He says saints are passive and 
not active in first conversion. They are turned, not by the power 
of their own free will, but by the power of God's free grace. 
They are returned under the illuminations and quickenings of the Blessed 
Spirit and through the efficacious drawings of the Father's love 
unto Christ. Do you ever wonder if Gil just 
put his pen down right then and there and said, Praise God! And 
how do you write that, expounding something like this and not be 
overtaken with joy? How do we come to the suppers 
month in and month out? How do we get reminded of the 
gospel week in and week out or daily as we're reading our scriptures 
and not whirl and dance about before the ark of the Lord? Brethren, 
there's every reason. in our gospel, for us to be a 
very happy people, to be a very happy group of sheep. And look 
at the language, the shepherd, the overseer. We speak of pastors 
as being shepherds and overseers, but they're under-shepherds and 
under-overseers. I know that sounds a bit odd, 
but they are under-overseers. The chief shepherd is our Lord 
Jesus. The chief overseer is our Lord Jesus. He doesn't wear 
a funny hat. He just executes his office as 
his king, priest, and prophet most excellently for his people. What does Peter have in his mind 
with reference to the shepherd? The Lord is my shepherd, I shall 
not want. There's a picture of Yahweh as 
shepherd in Isaiah the prophet in chapter 40. There's a statement 
of promise in Ezekiel 34. We'll read that as we close tonight, 
and that won't be long from now. But in Ezekiel 34, a description 
of what Yahweh as Shepherd will do for His people. And then this 
overseer. He is the Chief Shepherd. He 
is the overseer of your souls. So, brethren, in the context, 
servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear. Look at 
the one who, through his substitutionary atonement, brought you out of 
darkness into marvelous light, returned you to the shepherd 
and overseer of your souls. Learn from Christ, but realize 
it's not that example, ultimately. It's what he did in terms of 
his redemption on behalf of souls. I did want to read that section 
from Ezekiel the prophet, you can either just listen or turn 
to chapter 34. Rich imagery when we think of 
God as shepherd, when we think of God as overseer, when we meditate 
upon Psalm 23. You know, it's unfortunate we 
typically associate Psalm 23 with gravesides. I'd like to 
think we're using Psalm 23, you know, now. Not just when we come to die, 
because all that's said in Psalm 23 is all the stuff we need tomorrow, 
all the stuff we need today. We need to be conscious of that 
reality that the Lord is my shepherd. The Lord causes it such that 
I shall not want. The Lord's provision is rich 
and bountiful. The Lord does give to me, and 
the Lord does provide. Notice Ezekiel 34 verse 11, For 
thus says the Lord God, Indeed, I myself will search for my sheep 
and seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock 
on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out my 
sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered 
on a cloudy and dark day. And I will bring them out from 
the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring 
them to their own land. I will feed them on the mountains 
of Israel, in the valleys, and in all the inhabited places of 
the country. I will feed them in good pasture, 
and their fold shall be on the high mountains of Israel. There 
they shall lie down in a good fold and feed in rich pasture 
on the mountains of Israel. I will feed my flock and I will 
make them lie down, says the Lord God. I will seek what was 
lost and bring back what was driven away, bind up the broken 
and strengthen what was sick. but I will destroy the fat and 
the strong and feed them in judgment." Brethren, the fact that Jesus 
speaks as the Good Shepherd in John chapter 10 does call together 
those lines from the Old Testament to bring it to bear upon the 
people of God today to reflect upon the reality that He is the 
Good Shepherd, that He has laid down His life for the sheep. 
He did it in such a way as to bear our sins in His body on 
the tree, so that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. Well, let us pray. Our blessed 
God and our Holy Father, we thank you for the redemptive suffering 
and the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. We 
thank you that he is our chief shepherd and overseer. We thank 
you that you have returned us, that you have converted us, that 
your efficacious grace is what found us out. God, men, celebrate 
free will. We will always celebrate free 
grace. We will always rejoice in the 
fact that you have predestined, that you have chosen, that you 
are sovereign in election, and that you have done these things 
according to your good pleasure. Father, help us to meditate upon 
these things each and every day. Help us to reflect upon these 
truths and may they encourage us as those who have died to 
sin. May we indeed pursue righteousness 
and holiness and those things that are pleasing in your sight. 
And we pray these things to Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.