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.

Opening Prayer

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.

Introduction

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.

Two Points Introduced

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.

Description of Christ's Redemptive Suffering

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

The Person of Christ: Incarnate and Sinless

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.

The Work of Christ: Suffering and Death

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.

The Substitutionary Nature of His 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.

Imputation and the Scapegoat

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.

Result of Christ's Redemptive Suffering

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.

Freedom from Sin's Penalty

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.

Freedom from Sin's Power

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.

Recovery of His People

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.

Closing Prayer

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.

Scripture References

• Leviticus 16
• Deuteronomy 21
• Psalm 23
• Isaiah 40; 53:4-5; 53:6; 53:7; 53:9; 53:12
• Ezekiel 34; 34:11
• John 1:29; 10; 10:11
• Acts 5; 10
• Romans 6; 6:1-4; 8:1
• 2 Corinthians 5:21
• Galatians 3; 3:10; 3:13
• Ephesians 5:2
• Titus 2:14
• Hebrews 7:27; 9:28
• 1 Peter 1:2; 2; 2:18; 2:19; 2:20; 2:21-25; 2:22; 2:23; 2:24; 2:25