 Okay. So, the recording has started. We'll pray and get started. Kiran, can you lead us? Yes, ma'am Seer. Let's pray. Father God, we come before Your throne once again and we want to say thank You, Father God, for all You've done for us. Father God, thank You. Father God, give Your wisdom and knowledge. Father God, go to the subject that we can understand nicely and we can apply it to Your kingdom work. Help us to lead forward, Father God, to upcoming time. All the students are meeting to Your hand, Father God. They are willing to join, helping to join the classes, Father God. Thank You. Rest of the time, submitting to Your hand, take care of every side. Almighty Jesus name, Amen. Amen. Amen. Thank You, Kiran. So, in the last class, we started with 1 Peter and we have looked at chapter 1, moved into chapter 2 as well. So, that's what we are going to study today. We'll continue from where we stopped. So, we'll go back to chapter 2. And I was explaining the background to all of us and saying that Peter is addressing the church of the Gentiles during a very challenging time when there was persecution. And according to history, the persecution only got worse. You know, the leadership was to be passed on to Nero later and under him. Many atrocities happened against those who believed in Jesus Christ. So, these were difficult times. These were times where people could have easily given up on their faith and that is why Peter brings this exhortation as well as instruction. I told us that he talks about how to live out this Christian life in certain settings. So, we will have a look at it. So, chapter 1 as we saw, he pours out encouragement and helps them recognize, helps the people recognize that they are citizens of heaven. However, they live here on the earth and that their reward is eternal, that God has done a lasting work through the cross for them. So, basically he is helping them know that the hope which they have is a great hope and because of that, they should live a life here on the earth which honors God and which is also a very righteous life. So, we will see. You know, he will touch on how to be with, how to serve as an employee, a little bit about the role of husband and wife, you know, things like that. So, he will touch on all the practical aspects as well so that people really know how to live this honorable life which Peter is calling them to live. So, in chapter 2 beginning, we saw that he encouraged the people to live a holy life. He said, put away, you know, works of the flesh, malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy. So, these things are not good for those who are professing that they now believe in God. So, you know, the life has to match up to the confession which we have. So, that is what he is inviting the believers to do and we also observe that he calls the believers to love God's word. He says that instead of doing evil things, earnestly desire, earnestly desire there would be or actually he just says desire. It's not earnestly desire, desire, but the kind of meaning that this word desire carries is when in Psalm 42 the psalmistries as the dear pants. So, you know, a yearning and a longing of the spirit for something which will satisfy it. So, he says, our desire for God's word should be so strong. You know, like newborn babies that desire milk, no newborn baby will reject milk. In fact, they love to be fed as often as possible and a normal healthy baby will want, will cry for it. So, in the same way, even our desire for God's word should be so strong is what he is telling the believers. And then he goes on to talking about the Lord Jesus that he has become our cornerstone. He also points out that Jesus was rejected by people but he is chosen by God and God has made him the center of our faith. And then he points out to the believers and he says that you are all living stones. So, how does God build the temple? Obviously, the stones which he uses are people. So, we are the living stones and we offer up spiritual sacrifices. So, we do our part and then God is using each one of us to build his eternal kingdom. So, that's the way God works. So, you see that there's a lot of encouragement, a lot of exhortation and he is gently nudging them to live a godly life because so much has been done by Jesus for them. Then he goes on to also letting these people know that they are not lower spiritually to the Jews because the same kind of attention and love and blessings that God wants for the Jews. Now that people are in Christ Jesus, he is giving it to every community and I pointed out that these people were Gentiles. So, in this context, during their times there was a very big distinction that the Jews are blessed, the Jews are called, they are chosen but other communities are not. So, Peter is telling these people that come on, now that you are in Jesus Christ, you are also chosen. So, we saw that beautiful passage where they are told that you are chosen generation, royal priesthood, holy nation, his own special people and why did God do all this for us? So that we can proclaim the praises of this God who has saved us so marvelously and brought us into his light. So, recognize the mercy of God. Even today for us we can recognize what the Lord Jesus has done in buying us back through his work on the cross. So, let's continue from verse 11. In a little more depth we will go and then we will keep going to the following chapters here. So, verse 11 of 1st Peter chapter 2. Alright, so once again here he points out that we are sojourners and pilgrims, so that's like a temporary status. It's like you are in the world but you are not off the world. So, don't get too attached to the world. So, that's the point. He says, apps stay in fleshly lusts which are against the soul. So, he is also pointing out that for people, for us, we have many challenges that Satan brings our way. Mainly in the mind, he attacks us and we might think that giving in to some of these weaknesses will not affect us. It's like saying that a little bit, a little bit. Hi everybody, I hope you can hear me now. Yes ma'am, now. There was a power cut so I just got to speak. Sure, sure, sure. So, it's going a little on and off so please bear with me. Is it fast enough you are able to be in time or is there a lag? Audible man. Okay, then I will carry on. Okay, yeah, I really hope this gets better because the power is going off and coming back on. So, let's see. Anyway, so what I've been saying is that when we look at scripture though, we are looking at this in context and we are gaining the main instructions that Peter has in these letters. As you read the details, there is so much more that we can understand. One thing that we are able to figure out here is that fleshly lusts have a property to destroy the soul. So, let's just say maybe young people who are influenced by ungodly friends. Their friends might say things like, hey nothing will happen or nobody will come to know it's okay, we can indulge in certain things. And just for the sake of pleasure and everyone else is doing it. And with the assumption that okay, I'll get into it and I'll get out of it, nobody will know and it's just like time pass. But you see very clearly what Peter is saying here. He's saying that fleshly lusts, when we entertain any form of fleshly lust, what will it do? It will go more against the soul. So in other words, you could say that it will cause destruction of the soul part of us. So that will be our mind, will and our emotions. And sometimes even for believers they engage in all these worldly things and then wonder, why am I not feeling healthy in my soul? Why am I not able to make decisions or why am I not experiencing consistent, steady emotions? It could also be that one is not these fleshly lusts. So if at all someone has opened up doors for fleshly lusts, then it's very important for them to shut it. So instead of these things, what did he say earlier? He said desire the word. That should be our focus. And he also points out that it is important for us to have a good testimony. Sometimes as believers we say, okay, my relationship is only with God. Now don't ask me to think about people around me. It's okay, whatever people think it's fine. Now this is not about pleasing people because we know in other passages of the Bible, we are encouraged to look for the approval of God. So we are people who want that. But at the same time to maintain a testimony is also very important. Because you tell me otherwise, if we don't maintain a good testimony or here he says, let your conduct be honorable. Let it be honorable especially. Especially he says among the Gentiles or the other unbelievers around you. Now let's say some believer is not walking honorably, living a sinful life, giving into all kinds of lusts. Now if this person goes and preaches to some unbeliever, do you think that they will respond? Like likelihood is? No, because people will look at the life of this person and think, oh, look at you. You yourself are not transformed in any way. And why do you want me to accept this gospel? So that would be the reaction of the people. And that is the important reason why our conduct or our testimony is also important. And by this we are not saying that or project one personality to people outside and be another person. No, but integrity. Integrity is you're the same person. Okay, your attitude, your heart, your character is the same. You're not trying to change it for different people. So if we have that kind of a character, it is honorable before the people. Then the people, even if they have accusations against us, they would look at our conduct and they would know that, yeah, there is nothing we can point out and blame this person for. So, you know, in this manner, he encourages the believer, first of all, know that your outlook towards this life should be eternal. And, you know, you're so blessed, God has made you a chosen people because of his mercy. Think about all these things. So let go of an evil way of living life. Instead, live a righteous life to the extent that others also should look at you and say, okay, these are God's people. So that is the encouragement that he brings to the people. Now, going into a little more details of how to actually live out this honorable life. Here, you would see that he is asking the believers to submit to authority. So he says, therefore, in verse 13, submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake. Okay, so very important. Whenever we talk about submission, we will again talk about submission in the next chapter. Submission is for the Lord's sake. So when we think that I am being obedient for what? To honor God. Then obedience comes easy. Then, you know, being subject to an authority comes easy because it is, yes, it is for the sake of the authority, but it is also for the sake of God. So that is the Christian way of submitting or the believer's way of submitting. Our submission is first to God. And that is why we have submission to someone that God has placed in authority over us. And look here, he says that every ordinance of man, whether to the king as supreme or to governors as to those who are sent by him. So we have to look at people who are positioned in authority as those who have been, in other words, appointed by God, sent by God, appointed or, you know, like God has permitted them to be in those positions because there is a good work that he wants them to do. So what is God's plan for people in authority? He says the punishment of evil doers for the praise of those who do good. So they are there to regulate right and wrong. So we must not look at people in authority and think, what is this? Why has God even placed them? And also, if you remember, I told us that the time at which Peter is writing all these things is a very tough time. And persecution was happening right before their eyes. And I don't have to recall the kind of persecution that used to take place in those days, beating up people, imprisoning them, taking away their property. So many things were happening, physically harming those who profess faith in Jesus. So in the midst of all this, for Peter to say that authority has been sent by God. It's a very big thing. It's a very big thing. So if they were looking at their authorities as sent by God, how much more we can look at our governing authorities as sent by God. And we see that they are called to uphold the right things. And then we are also told that we must honour all people and love the Brotherhood for fear of God and honour the King. So everyone in the community, everyone around, we have to live such a Godly life that we are honouring them. But notice, he is also adding here love the Brotherhood. So it has to really be from the depths of one's being to love those who are in Christ Jesus. So honour, love, those are the points that he is making. Now moving on to verse 18 here. He says, Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear. So servants is who? Servants in those days were more like slaves in the authority structure which they had. There would be masters and there would be servants or more like people who are sold off to a particular person and their entire life is over there. So even in that situation, he brings back this term be submissive. What is submissive? To be subject to. And if you look at the translation of that word, you see that it also talks about obedient. Because obviously in the case of authority, there are generally instructions, isn't it? Which are given to the subordinates. So whatever that is, you be obedient to it. That's what he's saying, be obedient and obedience with honour. We'll see that. So be obedient to your masters with all fear. What fear is this? He already said, when he talked about governing authorities, he said, for whose sake should you submit to them? For God's sake. So in the same way, when we are submitting to our authorities at work. Now in our context, we don't really have the slave master kind of a setup. It's more like we go work with someone and then we are back. So they would be. So master is not really applicable for us. But our seniors, our senior colleagues, our management, those are the authority structures in today's scenario. And that's what we are talking about. We can be subject to them and be walking in as per their instructions. And you see, he says, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. So again, during their times for Peter to say this is something really great because people were very harsh. You can imagine slavery and owning people and so they were essentially zero to no rights. Some to no rights for the workers. But even in those circumstances, he is telling them to be submissive because this is only through the faith which they had in God. So when we have faith in God, we can trust that I am doing the right thing. Even if the person in authority over me may not be doing the right thing. I know that God will reward me for my faithfulness. So that is the faith which he is exerting the believers to have. So just little bit I'm going to back up over here when we talked about submitting to authorities. Now I have a question for all of you. Should we submit to everything because for God's sake, we have to submit, isn't it? But what if the authorities tell us to do something against God? What to do then? Any idea? We cannot do anything because we can submit. But if it comes to the matter of God and faith, we cannot still be respected and honoured. But we are not ready to do what he has to do anything against God, against the word of God. Okay, thank you Thomas. Are there any examples from scripture, Old Testament, New Testament where you see people following what you just said? We can say in the Old Testament, Daniel and France, they were in the king's court only. They were honouring the king and everything. But when it comes to the matters of his idols, they were very strong. We don't want to worship. We will not worship. That's where they stand. They went through any kind of thing. They went through fire. But they stood on a king, but they don't want to worship. They want to worship only Jehovah. You can see like that. Yes, yes. So that's true, Thomas. Thank you for that. And here in the chat, Dave has posted New Testament with the disciples. So you remember, even when Peter and John, they go and they heal that man, the lame man. The gate beautiful. So many things they are rebuked. They are instructed, okay, don't worship. Don't preach in the name of Jesus. So many things. So at that point, they say, you tell us who should we follow? You or God? So we have to be submissive to the governing authorities. But when it comes to an incident where they are asking us to go against God, then we can be very, very clear that, hey, we can't do that. So this is how you would interpret it and apply it. So you have to look at the other passages of scripture also. Here it says, be subject to every ordinance of God for the Lord's sake. And that's how it is. Now for me to examine this, I have to see, okay, where else does this submitting to authorities happen? How did they do it in a time when they were asked to go against God? So when you look at it in that manner, then we can understand that. No, we have to stand up for God in moments like that. Now once again, coming back to verse 18 here, we see that it says, servants be submissive. We've seen that. And not just to the gentle, but also to the harsh. So in case we are working in some setup and people are not that gentle with us, we should still maintain honor for them. We should still follow the guidance, instructions that they give to us. Be obedient as employees to our bosses. Then again, he says, if because of conscience toward God, one endures grief. See again, as he said earlier, for the Lord's sake, what is this? Conscience toward God. So how can one be submissive in such a situation when we are thinking about God and pleasing God? So our submission to our authority is actually because of our submission to God. That's how it works. So he says, suppose we end your grief or there is a painful situation or you're suffering wrongfully. You're doing the right things. You're carrying the right attitude at work. But still, maybe one is being bullied at work or one is being ill-treated. One is being unjustly kept at a lower position. So many things happen, isn't it, at the workplace? But he says, no matter what is happening, you have a right attitude. For the sake of God, because of your conscience toward God, if wrongfully you are suffering or you're enduring grief, don't worry. And also he's reminding them, if at all we go through such wrong injustice, please know that God is faithful. God is watching everything. But if, let's say, we are suffering, even though we are doing good, then he reminds the believers and he says that it is a good thing. It is commendable before God. See, what is the use if we do something that is wrong and we are suffering for that? There's no use, isn't it? But if you are doing the right thing and you're suffering for that, then don't worry. Don't worry because God is watching over us. So that is what we are being told here. Okay, let's move on to verse 21. So explaining this further about carrying the right attitude in submission, he points us to the Lord Jesus and how Jesus suffered. Now, all of you will agree that it was very unjust. Jesus was such a sinless, he was a sinless person and yet he had to endure emotional, physical afflictions of many kinds. Was it fair? We can all say no, it was not fair. But he was submitted to God and that is why he was willing to endure the pain of the cross. And in the same way, injustice in our life situations, especially in the workplace, he's saying that if at all it happens, you consider the Lord Jesus. He was sinless and yet he suffered. And also with what attitude did he suffer? No, it's really beautiful. Sometimes we suffer, but in our suffering, we grumble, we blame, we accuse. We say, oh, you're doing this to me, you wait and see what God is going to do. I am right, I'm so right and we just want everyone to know I'm so right. You see, God is going to judge this person. So we make a big deal out of our submission. The attitude, we may be doing the right thing, but the attitude which we carry may not be right and the spirit may not be right. But you notice here, it says about Jesus, I am in the passage from 21 verse 21 to 25. It says he suffered. Jesus suffered. How did he suffer? See that attitude which he carried. He was reviled, did not revile in return. He did not threaten, but he committed himself to him who judges righteously. You see, again for God's sake, he went through what he went through. And what did Jesus do? This is a beautiful scripture. 1 Peter 2 verse 24, it says, himself bore our sins. Remember, he has become our sin-bearer. We've studied this in Hebrews. We saw that earlier what the temple worship was able to do for the people was just to cover their sin, but not take away their sin. Jesus became our sin-bearer and he bore our sins in his own body to do what? To take it away from us. Then we are told, having died to sins, we might live for righteousness. So in what Jesus has done, here is another truth which for us as believers we must understand. Now I too can identify with the death of Jesus. So how do we identify? Jesus died on the cross, but I as a believer, I have died to my sins and I now live for righteousness. So that truth has to become very, very real to us that the power of sin is broken. Roman 6 talks about it. The power of sin is broken. So can a believer live a righteous life? Yes, 1 Peter 2 verse 24, it says that the Lord Jesus bore our sins in his own body on the tree, which is the cross. So that what? That we, having died to sin, should live for righteousness. Might live for righteousness. So it is possible for every believer to die to sin and to live for righteousness. So whenever temptation comes to us or whenever we are in a very, very difficult situation where maybe doing the wrong thing is the way out. We can tell ourselves, no, Jesus, he bore my sins in his body on a tree. So that I, having died to sins, might live for righteousness. So I can live for righteousness. I should die to the sin and I should live for righteousness. So we can remind ourselves of the truth of God's word and that's why every believer is called to victory. Because Jesus has already made it possible for us to be victorious even against any temptation, oppression, deception of the enemy. And we are also told that by the stripes of Jesus we were healed. So Jesus has done a mighty work on the cross for us. And now he continues to tell the believers that you were like sheep going astray but now you have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your soul. Or you have come back to Jesus Christ who is the one who will guide you and lead you. So in chapter 2, if you simply want to look at the sections, what are the things that we have observed here? We have seen that a believer should live a holy life, desire the pure milk of the word, put away malice, deceit, evil talking, all those things away from us. Then we are also seeing that God's mercy has made us chosen people. Just like the promised generation earlier that was the Jews. And then we saw how one should be honoring and submitting to the governing authorities. And then we saw how one should be honoring and submitting to the masters. In today's world it could be your employer or boss or team leader or you want to use a different word for that. So we need to do that. Why should we do that? Because we go by Jesus's example. Jesus also was submitted to the Father. And because he was submitted to the Father, he was very meek when he went through the suffering that he went through here on the earth. So in his attitude he did not grumble, retaliate, accuse and do all those things. Instead he went through it with the hope that if God is for me, I am going to come out of this victorious. So that's the way. Now coming to submission in the home context. So now you would see Peter talking about how husbands and wives should really maintain that godly life. And you would see like each gender, what are the kind of responsibilities if you want to call that they should carry. So starting out here from chapter 3 and verse 1, it says, wives likewise be submissive to your own husbands. So same context. Now we must not forget. He is continuing and pointing out that there is an authority structure even in the home. We saw the authority structure outside earlier. And usually instructions, blessings, all that flows through that authority structure which God has established. So coming to the home, he says, wives be submissive to your own husbands. So the authority structure which has established his husband is the head of the home, is the head of the wife, the head of the family, the spiritual head. And the wife is supposed to submit to her husband. What is submit again? Again, it's to be subject to or to follow the leadership of or the actual translation also has the word obedience, be obedient. So that is what it means. Now how can a wife do this? We will continue to see that. But you notice here also it says be submissive to your own husbands. So now sometimes this line here has been misinterpreted and people say that women in general have to be submissive to men in general. So which means that if there are men in the church or men in the workplace, men outside. So by default women you are supposed to submit to any man. But that's not what this sentence here says. It's very clear. It says wives likewise be submissive to who? Your own husbands. So this cannot be used to say that all women come under all men. It doesn't really say that. So we'll see even later how Peter will say that husband, wife, you are heirs together. So it's not so much about God making one better than the one gender better than the other. That's not what it is. It's more about the roles of the gender because we know as far as salvation is concerned, as far as God creating man is concerned. He created them with that sense of equality. So that is quite, that's not what we are trying to contest here. So it's more about roles. So we understood wives are called to be obedient or be subject to their husbands in the family context to their own husbands. Now, to what extent? It says that even if some do not obey the word. So again, going back to the people of Peter's time to whom he was writing this, we have to understand that there were many women from the Gentile background who were getting saved. And maybe once they got saved, they probably had a question, you know, should we continue living with a husband? Should we leave the husband? Or okay, now that I have become a believer, do you think I am in some way more superior to my husband? Or you know, should I preach to my husband? So there were all these questions that women had. And in that context, Peter is writing to the wives and he's saying wives be submissive. Maybe some of you have husbands who are unbelievers. So he also says that even if some do not obey the word without a word, maybe one by the conduct of their wives. So this is not a license to say that, you know, one can go and marry an unbeliever because we have very clearly seen in the Bible that we are not supposed to be unequally yoked with an unbeliever. But if two unbelievers get married and somewhere in the journey, one spouse gets saved, that's when, you know, one is a believer, one is an unbeliever. That is the context. So in that situation, he is saying that if a wife lives her life or he refers to conduct, what conduct? Godly conduct, okay? Godly conduct of worship, honor of God, honor of her house, her husband being submissive to the husband, even if, you know, he's not a believer. What happens? The husband, he says, without a word can be won over. So that's what he's saying. If at all you find yourself in that marriage situation, then you can live a godly life. And a godly life is a great influence. And you maybe you preach at the husband or maybe you don't use any words. He says without a word. So just by the behavior, a wife can win over her husband. So that is the context here that a wife, a godly wife can influence her husband in a positive way. And then he goes on to talk about adornment or the appearance that a godly woman should carry. So he says do not let your adornment be merely outward. So we would also recognize that he's not forbidding the women from adornment. Now for women, adornment can, he lists it out. He says arranging of hair, wearing gold, putting on a finer barrel. So there are some of these things that are pleasurable for women. Women like to do things like that. So what he is pointing out here, you have to look at it in the context. So basically he's saying that conduct is more important than the external adornment. So he's not saying, forget about adornment, that's not what he's saying. But he's saying, yeah, even if there is adornment, what you must concentrate on is the conduct. Or then he goes on to explain the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and a quiet spirit. So gentle and a quiet spirit, again in continuation to the submissive spirit that he is talking about. So basically he's saying that a wife who is, you know, she's for the family. She's for building up the home and she is honoring God's authority structure of the husband over her. That is what God is looking for. So that is precious in God's sight. So the emphasis is more on the conduct than about pleasing the husband, you know, just by external, external adornment. So now, yeah, there are some people who would say that, yeah, no adornment, you can't put on any, like it says here, right? Hair, what else? It says hair and gold and finer peril and things like that. Not necessarily because we will go to the next set of verses here where you see verse five and six where there is a reference to Sarah. So Sarah, again, if you go back to the context of Abraham's times, Abraham, Sarah, Rebecca, they, in this passage, Sarah is called as a holy woman. Holy woman that trusted in God, but they were also women who used to wear jewelry and, you know, adorn themselves. So how can they be called holy women if, you know, they are wearing jewelry or, you know, dressing up and all. So that's not the point. You have to look at it in the context. Basically he's saying the way he told about being submissive to the governing authorities, being submissive to the masters. So he's just saying be submissive to the authority structure of the home. So women understand that the husband is the authority structure in the house. So with this, we'll take a break. We will come back. I'll continue from where I've stopped. So if you have any questions, it would be really nice. We can discuss, we can talk and clarify many aspects. So see you then at 10 o'clock. Thank you.