Exalted Savior on the Right Hand of God

Introduction: The American Dream vs. Biblical Reality of Suffering

0:03 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, August 29, 1999, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. May I encourage you, please, to turn with me in your own Bibles to 1 Peter, and for the last time I will say Chapter 3. God willing, we will complete our expositions of Chapter 3 this morning. Then follow, then, please, as I read this paragraph in which the concluding text will be taken, 1 Peter, Chapter 3, beginning with verse 13.

0:45 And who is he that will harm you if you be zealous of that which is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, blessed are you. And do not fear their fear, neither be troubled. But sanctify in yourselves.

1:06 In your hearts Christ as Lord, being ready always to give answer to every man that asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear. Having a good conscience that wherein you are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ. For it is better if the will of God should so will that you suffer for well-doing than for evil.

1:37 Because Christ also suffered for sins once, 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 also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few that he had made. For it is better if the will of God should so will that you suffer for well-doing than for evil. While the ark was preparing, wherein few that he had made. For it is better if the will of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few that he had made.

2:07 For it is better if the will of God should so will that you suffer for well-doing than for evil.

2:37 For it is better if the will of God should so will that you suffer for well-doing than for evil.

3:08 For it is better if the will of God should so will that you suffer for well-doing than for evil.

3:44 For it is better if the will of God should so will that you suffer for well-doing than for evil.

4:22 like have heard the phrase, the American dream. Next year being an election year, you're going to hear a lot more of that as various candidates seek to promote themselves and their agenda in order to help us attain the American dream. Now for many, a vital part of this American dream is the assumption that with the right combination of money, technology, government control, or non-control of the market forces, every American should be born, should live,

5:04 should work, should retire, and die in a trouble-free realm of existence. And while our forefathers believed that Each of us was endowed with an inalienable right to the pursuit of happiness. The current popular notion of the American dream is that each one of us has a right to unconditional possession of happiness. Well, the Word of God promises no such dream.

5:40 The Scriptures inform us that man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward. Jesus said, the poor you always have with you. The American dream, notwithstanding. And furthermore, the Word of God makes it plain that for the true children of God, for real disciples of the Lord Jesus, they will not only experience the trouble, the troubles common to all men in this life in a fallen world, but that they will have, in addition to those things, loving fatherly chastisement to perfect them in holiness,

6:25 and the opposition of an unbelieving and a hostile world. The Apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 3.12, and all that would live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer. Now, the Christians in Asia Minor, the provinces to whom Peter sent this letter, as is evident in the opening words of the letter, they were finding this to be true.

Context of 1 Peter 3: The Suffering Savior and Saints

6:54 And Peter writes with a central pastoral passion and burden to enlighten, to strengthen, and to encourage these believers in the light of their present and future suffering for the sake of Christ. And after that, he says, after giving some foundational principles with respect to the matter of suffering for righteousness' sake, in verses 13 to 17, Peter then goes on to set before them the Lord Jesus Christ as the great and perfect sufferer. So he says in the opening words of verse 18, because Christ also suffered.

7:36 And he sets the Lord Jesus before these believers, in ways in which His sufferings are parallel to the sufferings of His people, and also in ways in which His sufferings for His people are utterly unique. Then in verses 19 and 20, he draws comfort from Noah and his family. In verse 21, he demonstrates parallels between the flood and baptism. And in his concluding statement regarding salvation, that is pictured in baptism, being grounded in the objective, once for all, saving work of Christ,

8:19 culminating in His resurrection, he then launches into the tightly packed statement concerning the ascension and heavenly session of the Lord Jesus, found in verse 22. Now as we consider verse 22 today, remember, although the truth is done, and the truth is predominantly doctrinal. And it is. It speaks of something that has happened to Jesus Christ.

8:48 You and I are not in verse 22. It's all Jesus. And it's all Jesus in vigorous doctrinal perspectives. He writes of Jesus who is on the right hand of God.

9:04 Who has gone in to heaven. Angels authorities and powers being made subject to Him. That's vigorous, dense doctrine. But it comes in a most intensely practical section. He is seeking to fortify believers in Asia Minor to face the opposition and suffering that they are already experiencing and which Peter believes will intensify in the days to come.

9:37 Now, what's the significance of this, and why do I pause to underline it before opening up the text? Well, we learn that Peter was of the persuasion that knowing and believing the vigorous doctrinal stuff of verse 22 was vital to the people of God if they were going to render God-honoring, gospel-validating suffering for righteousness' sake. Is that sinking in?

10:08 How are people armed and fitted for God-honoring, gospel-validating suffering for righteousness' sake? They get a good dose of Holy Spirit-inspired doctrine that percolates within their breasts. That's how they face it. And particularly, the doctrine that pertains to their blessed Lord.

10:34 So, having worked our way through the paragraph, and having gone into... Suffering 101, verses 13 to 17. We then considered the suffering saints and the suffering Savior, verse 18. Suffering saints and the salvation of Noah and his family, verses 19 and 20. Suffering saints and the baptism that saves, verse 20. Now we come to suffering saints and the exalted Savior.

The Doctrinal Significance of 1 Peter 3:22 for Suffering Saints

11:04 And I marvel the more I study my Bible at how the Spirit of God so... Wisely put the Word of God together. What better place to land as the capstone of this section of Peter dealing with believers and their response to suffering than to fix all the days of the soul upon an exalted Savior.

11:31 Now, in opening up the text this morning, we'll do so under two headings. First of all, where Jesus went after his resurrection. And then secondly, what is his position in that place, its figurative portrayal at the right hand of God, its explicit description, angels, authorities, powers, being made subject to him. Now, you ask me, Pastor, why do you start with where Jesus went after his resurrection?

12:01 That's going to bring us to the second statement in the text. Having gone into heaven. That's right. And I'll tell you why I'm going to start there.

12:11 I labored long and hard to try to come up with a linguistic parallel that would help you to understand how the Word of God comes to us in this text. And I think this is at least close to it. If I were to say to you, I am now preaching from this pulpit, having climbed the steps to this platform, having placed my Bible...

12:36 ...and my notes on the lectern, I would be stating reality, would I not?

12:41 I am preaching from this pulpit, present tense. That's what I'm doing. But what I'm doing is predicated upon what I previously did, having climbed the stairs to the platform, and having placed my Bible and my notes on the lectern. Now, that's the way the Spirit of God moved Peter to write this passage.

13:05 And if you're translating this, if the translation reflects the order of the language in the original, it will reflect this reality. Having spoken of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead, 21c, He says, Who is on the right hand of God? And He uses a present tense verb. That's where He is.

13:28 He is. I am in the pulpit. He is on the right hand of God. But that is predicated upon two things that preceded, and accompanied His being at the right hand of God, having, first of all, gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.

13:51 So you have a present tense verb, two past tense participles, and the way it is structured, it sets before us this reality of where Jesus went after His resurrection, and what is His resurrection. And what is His position in that place. So then, in that way, I'll seek to open up the text. First of all, then, where Jesus went after His resurrection.

Where Jesus Went After His Resurrection: Into Heaven

14:18 Having mentioned the resurrection of Jesus Christ in verse 21, Peter goes on to say, This very Jesus Christ, who was raised from the dead, is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven. Now, when we take up the question, where did Jesus go after His resurrection, the biblical record is clear. The Gospels, the book of Acts, and the Epistles speak with one voice. After the first Easter Sunday, Jesus showed Himself alive to select gatherings for the space of how many days, kids?

15:00 Don't say it out loud. Remember how many days? For 40 days. We learn this experience.

15:07 Explicit testimony in Acts chapter 1 and verse 3. Acts chapter 1 and verse 3. The Spirit of God has underscored that His appearances were over the space of 40 days. Acts 1 and verse 3.

15:24 To whom He also showed Himself alive after His passion by many proofs, appearing unto them by the space of 40 days. Now, that does not mean every single day of the 40 He appeared to them. There is a clear indication in the record in John that there may have been a week period between some of those manifestations, but it stretched over a period of 40 days. And during that time, He appeared to different ones, as we read in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, and beginning in verse 5.

16:06 And that He appeared, to Cephas, and then to the twelve. Then He appeared to above 500 brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. He appeared, He appeared, He appeared.

16:26 And that this was not an extended conjoint, where something that looked like Jesus appeared is so clearly validated in such passages as Luke chapter 24, the Lord appears in the midst of the disciples, and they are scared with this. They think they are seeing an apparition. They are not persuaded that this is the very Jesus whose presence brought no terror to them in the days of His flesh. But now, they are scared with this when He appears.

17:00 It says in verse 37 of Luke 24, they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed they beheld the Spirit. Terrified, affrighted, supposed they were looking upon the Spirit. And what does the Lord do? He said, Why are you troubled?

17:15 Why do you question in your heart? See my hands and my feet. It is I myself. And then I love the next directive.

17:24 Handle me. Handle me. Go ahead and put your sweaty hands on mine. Handle me and see.

17:35 For a spirit has not flesh and bones as you behold me. And when He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. He didn't just talk. He said, All right, here's the evidence.

17:46 I say, handle me. Here, I'll put the stuff in your hands to handle it. And while they still disbelieve for joy. Imagine that.

17:55 They are touching Him and the rest, and this is too good to be true. It's too good to be true. They disbelieve for joy. What a strange conjunction of things.

18:03 They disbelieve for joy. They are so happy they don't believe. It says, disbelieve for joy. It's always true.

18:10 It fascinated me. So happy they can't believe. Strikes you, it's funny. Strikes me, it's funny.

18:18 Happy they can't believe. They're overcome with joy. A joy that feeds their lingering unbelief. So the Lord says, okay, now I'll really settle your minds and hearts.

18:29 You got anything here to eat? Not enough? I showed you my hands and my feet. Maybe you think the apparition has taken physical substance for a few moments.

18:39 Have you got something to eat? Oh, there's some munchies around. And they gave Him a piece of a...

18:44 a broiled fish. They had some leftovers. And He said, here, Lord. And what did He do?

18:50 He just hold it up. No, it says He didn't say where He just took it. And He ate before them. Hand over.

18:59 Watch. Spirits don't masticate and salivate and chew and swallow. They saw Him. They touched Him.

19:12 They handled Him. This was their Lord who had accompanied with them for over three years. This was their Lord whom they had seen beaten, bruised, impaled upon the cross, laid in the tomb. This was their Lord who appeared to them over the space now subsequent to this incident of forty days.

19:34 And now this very Lord. This very Lord whom they were convinced this was not an apparition. This was not something going on in their heads, a mind game. They so loved Him and so yearned for Him that they thought they saw Him.

19:48 No, this was their Lord in all of His risen power and glory. And at the end of this very chapter, as He leads them out against Bethany, verse 50 of Luke 24, He lifted up His hands and blessed them. And as He has His hands raised in priestly blessing, it came to pass while He blessed them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. This very Lord.

20:17 Who they knew was not an apparition, not a phantom. It was their Lord. He was carried up from them into heaven. Physically, bodily, He ascended into heaven.

20:31 And in Acts chapter 1, we are given even greater detail of what Luke describes in Luke chapter 24. Acts 1. The former treatise I made, O Theophilus, concerning all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, until the day in which He was received up. The Jesus who did the mighty works recorded in the Gospel of Luke.

20:59 The Jesus who spoke the words of grace. That very Jesus was received up. And how was He received up? Verse 9 of the same chapter.

21:13 When He had said these things as they were looking, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they were looking steadfastly into heaven, as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who said, You men of Galilee, why stand you looking into heaven? This Jesus who was received up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner, as you beheld Him going into heaven. Now, you see this has not been a digression.

21:55 We come back to 1 Peter chapter 3. And what language do we find? We find Peter, one of those who was part of the scared, witless group, grieving for joy, who touched, who handled, who saw their Lord take the munchies, bite off the piece of fish, and chew it, and swallow it, and spit out the bones if there were any left. For he didn't swallow bones and trust his father to take care of them.

22:29 That would be tempting the Lord his God. This very Jesus, Peter, was one of those who was standing there when the Lord began to levitate, and levitate until a cloud enveloped Him, and He was out of sight and heard the voice. Peter now writes, Who is on the right hand of God, having God. Having gone into heaven.

22:55 Having gone into heaven. I was one of those who saw Him taken up into heaven. How can I forget His upraised hands in priestly blessing? How can I forget His words of benediction and blessing pronounced upon us?

23:15 How can I forget that last glimpse of Him until the cloud completely covered Him and He was gone? How can I forget gazing into that bright cloud and hearing the voice of the two that appeared, saying, You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven? This Jesus who is taken up from you into heaven shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven. You see, God is making the message very plain.

23:42 They are not dreaming. They are not just fantasizing. They are not projecting out of their own hearts some devotion to Christ that has some mystic expression. No!

23:54 Jesus went into heaven. But you ask, And where is the heaven into which He ascended? That's a tough one. And I answer, It is the place from which He came when He took a true human soul and body in Mary's womb.

24:14 The place He left is the place to which He goes back. How do we know that? Because He told us so. In John chapter 6 in verse 38.

24:23 Listen to the Lord's words. He is conscious of this. John chapter 6 in verse 38. I am come down from heaven.

24:34 He was conscious that He left a certain place to come to this earth. I am come down from heaven. Verse 42. And they said, Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph whose father and mother we know?

24:50 How does He now say, I am come down out of heaven? They understood that He was saying, I had a prior existence in a prior place that is not connected with this earth. I've come down out of heaven. And not knowing who He was and understanding who He was, this was offensive to them.

25:15 Verse 62. What then if you should behold the Son of Man? Now notice, ascending where He was before. The Lord Jesus was conscious that at the end of His earthly ministry He would ascend back to the place that He left when He came among us.

25:36 And the best thing we can say about it is that it's the place of God's special and God's immediate presence. John Brown in a very helpful statement writes, We are warranted in asserting that it is a place where all the perfections of the deity that can be manifested by means of material grandeur and beauty are displayed in a degree of which we can form no adequate conception and that whatever may render a place desirable as a residence to a perfectly holy embodied human mind with its intellectual faculties and moral dispositions and sensibilities in the highest state of perfection,

26:20 is to be found there in absolute completeness. The best notion we can form of it is the general one, that it is the place which the Eternal Father, the God of infinite power and wisdom and righteousness and love, has prepared as a suitable residence for His incarnate Only Begotten in whom He is well pleased after He had on earth finished the work He had given Him to do. Another writer says, Heaven is that sphere of creation in which the will of God is perfectly done and where no sin is found to hinder Him in a full and adequate revelation of Himself. Into that sphere,

27:05 the locality of the created universe, Christ ascended as the first fruits of redeemed humanity in order to draw us up after Him. It is a place because it is the God-man who went there. And the God-man has spatial dimensions to His glorified body. And though changes occurred making Him fit for that place, no doubt that went far beyond the changes that were evident in His resurrected body while still here on earth, we know that there is a man somewhere who is the God-man

27:48 somewhere in the glory, somewhere in this vast universe of God there is a place where the glorified God-man sits at the right hand of the Father. Hence Peter can say in Acts 3.21 concerning this Jesus whom the heavens must receive until the restoration of all things. The writer to Hebrews can say He now appears before the face of God for us.

28:21 Hence at His second coming it is said the Lord Himself shall descend from where? From heaven. With a voice of the archangel and the trump of God with a shout He will come down from heaven. What more can I say?

28:39 To say anything more is to be speculative. But somewhere in this vast universe right now as we sit in this building one hundred by one hundred there is a place where Jesus is. In a supra-mundane place where God's glory in an unusually concentrated way is manifested. Where God's glory is appreciated and worshipped and honored by spirit beings called seraphim and cherubim and angels and the spirits of just men made perfect.

29:19 And it was His ascension. It was His passageway from earth. From earth into heaven. And hence Peter says this one has gone into heaven.

29:32 The language of the word of God is He was received up. Acts 1-2. Received up. Interesting in Acts 1 when they are giving the requirements for apostles.

29:43 And they are wrestling with who will take Judas' place. Notice how crucial this is. Acts 1. Of the men therefore verse 21 that have accompanied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us.

29:57 Notice the time reference. Beginning from the baptism of John until the day that He was received up from us. Of these must one become a witness with us of His resurrection. A requirement for an apostle was he had to have been there during the days of John the Baptist's ministry right on to the day our Lord was received up into heaven.

30:27 And in that record of an early hymn found in 1 Timothy 3 the crowning statement in that hymn concerning the mystery of godliness is He was received up in glory. Received up in glory. That's where Jesus is. Now then.

Christ's Position in Heaven: Figurative Portrayal at the Right Hand of God

30:48 What is His position in that place? Well according to Peter it is set before us. In a figurative portrayal who is on the right hand of God. And then it is set before us in what I'm calling an explicit description.

31:03 Angels, authorities, powers being made subject to it. What is His position in that place? The figurative portrayal is who is on the right hand of God. Now we know this is a figure of speech because God the Father has no literal hands.

31:19 Neither a right nor a left hand. He has no bodily parts. So this is a figure. But a figure that speaks of a reality.

31:29 And it's amazing how prominent this figure is in the New Testament. I found no fewer than 12 references explicit references to Jesus being at the right hand of God in heaven. So if God repeats a figure again and again and again and again and again there must be something very significant in it. A sampling of those references perhaps some of them are coming to your mind already.

31:54 Romans 8.34 Who is He that condemns? It is Christ that died. Yea, rather that is risen from the dead.

32:01 Who is at the right hand of God? Who also makes intercession for us. Or take as another sampling text the text that is found in Hebrews 12 and verse 2. Looking unto Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before Him endured the cross despising its shame and is sat down at the right hand of God.

32:28 Now what does this mean? What is its significance? Over a dozen times at least a dozen times that very phrase is used. Christ is at the right hand of God.

32:40 It's a figure. But what does it mean? Well that figure so dominant in the New Testament rests down upon one central Old Testament reference. Do you know what it is?

32:51 Turn to it please. Psalm 110. If I were to ask you what Psalm is quoted more frequently in the New Testament than any other would you know that it was Psalm 110? No other Psalm is quoted as frequently in the New Testament as Psalm 110 is.

33:10 And in Psalm 110 verse 1 is quoted more than any other verse from the Psalms in the New Testament. So if emphasis means anything God is putting something before us underlined in red and saying this is crucial. The Lord said unto my Lord sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool. The Lord will send forth the rod of your strength out of Zion rule in the midst of your enemies.

33:47 Here in this passage as I say quoted more frequently than any other verse in the New Testament from the Old one commentator has counted more than two dozen direct references and explicit allusions to this text in the New Testament. 27 to be exact. Well what is its fundamental significance? And dear people at this point I want to give you a warning.

34:12 You get your significance of biblical figures from the Bible. And if you can get some sidelights and highlights from Middle Eastern culture and from ancient practices fine. But you don't exegete the Bible by means of the archaeologist's spade or the expert linguist's discovery of documents from the secular world. And when we turn to the scriptures to let the scriptures expound this imagery we find that the imagery of the right hand is basically a position of honor and preeminence and predominantly a position of authority and rule.

34:54 It's a position of honor and preeminence. Remember in Mark chapter 10 the Lord is on his way to die and the disciples are fussing about who's going to be the chief honcho in the kingdom. Shame on them. Shame on them.

35:09 The Lord is on his way to die and they're having a spat about who's going to be number one. Mark 10 37 They said unto him Grant unto us that we may sit one on thy right hand and one on thy left hand in thy glory. But Jesus said unto him You don't know what you're asking are you able to drink the cup that I drink etc. What are they asking for?

35:34 They are asking for a place of honor and preeminence. The very place that Jesus promises to his overcoming saints. Turn to Revelation 3 and verse 21 a very critical text in seeking to understand the significance of the right hand. Revelation 3 and verse 21 He that overcomes I will give him to sit down with me in my throne as I also overcame and sat down with my Father in his throne.

36:10 Jesus says to every overcomer I will share the position of honor and preeminence given to me by my Father I will share it with you as you overcome by my grace and by my strength. That's why when Bathsheba was ushered into the presence of Solomon in 1 Kings chapter 2 Solomon said set a throne at my right hand and have my mother sit there to show before all who came into their presence the place of honor and dignity assigned to his mother. But it is primarily a position of authority and rule. Psalm 110 makes this abundantly clear The Lord said to my Lord sit at my right hand

36:53 until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet rule in the midst of your enemies He will send forth the scepter of his strength The Psalm breathes of regal royal authority and power as well as that strange passage vowed a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek He is a priest upon his throne He is God's priest-king But the primary emphasis of Psalm 110 is that of authority and rule and power and that is precisely what the scriptures tell us was given to our Lord as the reward of his obedience as the God-man Ephesians chapter 1

37:38 Paul is praying for the Ephesian Christians that they would know the measure of God's power manifested in this very act Verse 20 The power that he wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead made him to sit at his right hand in the heavenlies far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named not only in this world but in that which is to come and put all things in subjection under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church Language could not be more explicit or clear that that position

38:22 of being seated at the right hand of God is a position of supreme authority and rule Philippians 2.9-11 Wherefore God has highly exalted him given unto him a name above every name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord Now when you come to the book of Hebrews and I feel I must responsibly tell you this In the book of Hebrews his being seated at the right hand of God does not so much point to the position of honor and preeminence of authority and rule but it's the position of accomplishment and expectation and I wouldn't want you to have your confidence

39:07 in my accuracy undermined if I didn't tell you that The emphasis in Hebrews is that a priest sits when his work is done No priest in the old covenant sat He stood and he ministered and then he left the sanctuary Christ goes into the sanctuary bless God and he sits By one offering he has perfected forever then that are sanctified He's entered the heavenly sanctuary the writer to the Hebrews says and having done so he sits and in that posture he intercedes for his own henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool But that's a unique emphasis

39:52 in the book of Hebrews it's not relevant to our study here in 1st Peter but I mentioned it in passing What then do we glean from this figurative portrayal of where Christ is in heaven Well we glean this As the glorified exalted God-man he has been given the place of honor and rule that is now his Now follow closely That means you gotta think This is not speaking of the position of rule and honor that is inherently his right as God that he had from eternity that he never relinquished It is a position of rule and authority

40:35 given to him as the God-man as the reward of his obedience as the servant of God in the accomplishment of our redemption So that our manhood in Christ our head has been exalted to that place of authority and rule and preeminence in the very presence of the living God And we must not think of it as the father setting a separate and distinct throne but he sits in his father's throne at his right hand So that when we turn to the book of the Revelation

Christ's Position in Heaven: Explicit Description of Subjection

41:19 we find this vision in Revelation 22 It is the throne singing of God and of the Lamb And John has a vision in the midst of the throne he sees a Lamb as it had been slain So this figurative portrayal used by Peter speaking of our Lord telling us where he is He's gone into heaven What is his position? He is on the right hand of God Then he gives us his explicit description Look at the text Angels and authorities and powers having been subjected to him

42:03 Now with reference to these words John Brown writes These words set before us not so much a new idea but an expansion of what it means for him to be at the right hand of God Now again if you would take your concordance and look up these terms Angels, authorities, powers you would find there are ten passages in the New Testament where you have descriptions of varying spirit beings and their ranks and order For example in Ephesians chapter 6 We wrestle not against flesh and blood but against what? Principalities and powers against the world rulers of this darkness

42:47 There are ten passages and out of those ten passages there is no principle There is no possibility of constructing some kind of mythical notion that you have all these angels in all these ranks and we can sort it all out That's Jewish fables that God tells us to have nothing to do And they did do that And they tried to have all the angels ranked in this rank and all the rest What Peter is saying very simply and you can find this out with just the concordance no knowledge of Greek or Hebrew that angels authorities and powers are terms used of good spirit beings and of evil spirit beings Devil and his angels

43:32 same word used Though most frequently it's used of the elect angels holy angels It is used of wicked angels Likewise with the terms authorities and powers So what is Peter saying? Peter is saying without meaning any kind of hard fast deeply chiseled lines of distinction every rank of every spiritual being of whatever power good or evil is under the authority of Jesus That's what he said He's at the right hand of God That's the figure He's in the place of prominence the place of authority the place of rule And some suffering saints who see the very venom of the serpent of Genesis 3.15 seeking the power of God and the power

44:16 of God and the power of God and the power of God and the power of God and the power of God come to destroy them coming against them and they feel the power of Darkness as it were creeping in in around them What do they need to know? They need to know that the Jesus who died and rose and is born into heaven and is at the right hand of God has put beneath Him all authority and principalities and powers and angels have been made subject unto not beneath the subjugation they owe to Him as God,

45:01 but the subjugation won by His death, His resurrection, and His session at the right hand of God, the subjugation which, according to 1 Corinthians 15, extends even to death itself, and when He has destroyed the last enemy, then He yields up the kingdom to the Father. And there is a state of being that we cannot imagine that is simply described that God shall be all in all. What it means, I don't have a clue. But I know it's going to be wonderful.

Application for Suffering Saints: Christ's Sovereignty and Pattern

45:37 And it's going to be glorious. Well, that's what Peter says to suffering saints in Asia Minor. He says, you saints, you need to know where Jesus went after His resurrection. He went to heaven.

45:50 You need to know what His position is in that place. Figuratively, He's at the right hand of God. He shares the throne of God. He's in the place of priesthood and eminence and honor and power and authority.

46:03 Explicitly, you need to know that all spirit beings of all kinds, good and evil, are in submission to Him. Now, what do we say by way of application? Well, for the suffering saints of God in all ages, let me say three things quickly. Number one, Christ is the sovereign Lord over all the powers that stand behind your persecutors.

46:29 Remember the ancient conflict announced in Genesis? I alluded to it a few minutes ago. God said, I will put enmity between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. Had God not injected enmity, we would have aligned ourselves with the devil and his seed and all been damned.

46:48 God came and said, I will put enmity. I do it. I will initiate. I will break up this horrible demonic alignment between the serpent and Adam and Eve.

47:01 God says, I'll put enmity. I'm going to break up the alignment and I'm going to perpetuate that enmity. It will extend to the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent. That enmity has rolled on through the ages and you find it cropping out in the book of the Revelation in that very language about the serpent making war against the woman and her seed, the people of God.

47:27 You see the tremendous consolation it is to God's people in the midst of suffering and opposition, particularly when that suffering and opposition comes into focus, persecution for righteousness' sake, to know that all of those foul spirit powers that are behind the prejudice, behind the maligning, behind the slander, behind the hatred and murderous spirit of men against the people of God, that they are all under the feet of Jesus Christ. He says, He spoiled principalities and powers triumphing over them in His death. Colossians 2 and verse 15. And if God allows any of those powers

48:12 to be let loose upon His people to the point of martyrdom in the language inscribed on that tombstone that the covenant enters in Scotland, all those evil spirits can do is stir up men to chase the people of God to heaven. That's all. Well, it's rage to chase them up to heaven. I love the words.

48:33 And the rage of man, dear people, that's all it can do. And if it chases us into prisons, all it can do is make Christ precious in that place of confinement. And if it means we lose a job, it means that we will enter into the fellowship of His sufferings in ways that we would not otherwise. Whatever the opposition may be, our sovereign Lord is the one who governs all the activities of all spirits, good and evil, and nothing can touch us that falls outside the sphere of His sovereign rule.

49:10 Christ is the sovereign Lord over all the powers that stand behind your persecutors. Secondly, Christ is your pattern of suffering that leads to exaltation.

49:24 Peter had described Christ as the great sufferer. Verse 18, Christ suffered. Yes, He suffered for sins. He was put to death in the flesh.

49:34 But He was not only made alive, in the spirit in which realm He went in the days of Noah and preached to that generation, but He is the one who now is at the right hand of God. He's gone into heaven. All authorities and powers are subject to Him. His suffering was the path to glory and to exaltation.

49:59 That's the path for all of His own. Remember Revelation 3.21, He that overcomes, I will give to sit, with me in my throne, as I overcame and have sat down in my Father's, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising its shame, and is sat down at the right hand of God, looking unto Jesus, not only looking to Him in His resolution to do the Father's will, despising the shame, but look at Him. He went through the baptism of blood to the glory of the throne, and He is our pattern.

Application for Suffering Saints: Christ's Reign Until All Enemies are Defeated

50:38 If we suffer with Him, we shall reign with Him. And thirdly, Christ will reign until all of His and His people's enemies are defeated. Hebrews 10.12.13 speaks of Him being seated,

50:53 henceforth expecting, till His enemies be made His footstool. And what is the last enemy? In the same language, 1 Corinthians 15.25.26,

51:05 He must reign, until, until, He's put all His enemies beneath His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. And bless God, it shall be destroyed, as surely as Christ conquered, ascended, and is seated. He did not do that as a private person.

51:23 The Scripture tells us that He did it all as the representative head of His people. What was done to Him was done to us in Him. What was done to Him was done to us in Him. We died with Him.

51:37 We rose with Him. Where are we now? Raised up and seated together in heavenly places with Him. And we shall yet be glorified with Him.

51:46 He rose firstfruits of them that sleep. The harvest is going to come. And we're part of the harvest. Dear people of God, we're part of the harvest.

51:57 And as surely as Christ has been reaped, firstfruits, you and I shall be reaped in Him and because of Him. And this is how we're to think of Him. Isn't that what it is? And this is how we're to think of Him. Isn't that what it is?

52:08 The Colossians 3.1 says, Since then you were raised together with Christ. Set your mind on things above where Christ is. Set your mind on things above where Christ is.

52:16 And what phrase follows? Where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Where to have an intelligent, Spirit-enabled grasp upon this truth. Spirit-enabled grasp upon this truth.

52:26 He's at the right hand of God. He's at the right hand of God. And because He's there, He's the Sovereign Lord over every power, Spirit being that would stand behind He's the Sovereign Lord over every power, those that would oppose us for righteousness sake. He is the pattern of the suffering one who is brought to glory.

Application for Unbelievers: Invitation and Warning from the Reigning Lord

52:46 He will reign until all His and His people's enemies all His and His people's enemies are defeated. For you who are not the people of God, you're not converted as the exalted and reigning Lord. Think of it. Think of it.

53:02 He still invites sinners to come. He still entreats you. Come unto Me, all you that labor and are heavy laden. I will give you rest.

53:12 Him that comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out. But, my friend, listen. The reigning Lord who invites and entreats and pleads today is also the warning and the threatening Lord. Psalm 2, which speaks again of Messiah's rule.

53:32 It ends with these words, Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way. Go, that sovereign to anger. Don't provoke Him. His anger is not the anger of a paper tiger.

53:52 Don't provoke Him. He still from the throne in the word and promise of the Gospel stretches out His hands and pleads. Come, come, come. Flee the wrath to come.

54:12 Repent, believe the Gospel. But, my friend, I'd be less than faithful to your soul if I did not tell you He also warns and threatens. Kiss the Son, lest He be angry and you perish in the way. What do we need as God's people?

Concluding Exhortation and Prayer: Grasping the Reality of Christ's Exaltation

54:29 And, dear people, I say again without claiming to be a prophet, if God does not turn the tide with a mighty visitation upon our national life, the time is coming when you will wish perhaps you paid more attention to Suffering 101. What will you do? What will you do if the authorities appear to bar? What will you do if and when these doors are barred for public assembly?

55:07 Am I saying they will be in my time? No. We have been wonderfully spared and we are living in a sense in a fool's paradise compared with large segments of the Church of Christ in other parts of the world. This is the stuff that makes people glorify God in their suffering and validate the Gospel of Christ.

55:35 Whom they know has gone into heaven is seated at the right hand of God. Angels, principalities and power made subject unto Him. Our Father, we thank You for Your Holy Word. Thank You for the reality of the truth that we have considered this morning.

56:09 Though our physical eyes have never seen Him, with the eye of faith seated in glory, in power, the object of the adoring wonder of seraphim and cherubim and the spirits of just men made perfect and in innumerable company of holy angels. O our God, we pray, give us eyes to see more clearly and hearts to grasp more firmly the realities of what You have done in exalting Your beloved Son, in His place of honor, of rule and of power. And we pray, Lord Jesus,

56:53 this day, stretch out Your scepter of power. Have You not said, Your people shall be willing in the day of Your power? O Lord Jesus, stretch out Your scepter and subdue hearts that came into this building this morning, proud and rebellious and stubborn. Believing, penitent, trusting, submissive hearts.

57:23 And we pray for Your people. O God, help us, help us, we pray, that we will grasp afresh and grasp in ways we never had before the realities concerning Your dear Son and all that You have done in this life. Seal this word to our hearts, to our prophet and to Your praise. We ask in Jesus' name.