I hope that it was the cry of your heart this morning I was glad when they said to me, let us go into the house of the Lord. I hope that is where your heart is at this morning. And especially as we turn our attention and our focus to the word of God, I want to invite you to take your copies of God's word this morning and turn to the book of First Peter. While you're doing that, visitors, we have been systematically working through the book of First Peter. We find ourselves in First Peter chapter three. And this morning we are going to cover verses eight and nine But in preparation for this exposition of the Word of God, I'd like to read to you from both 1 Peter 2, 11 and 12, and then 1 Peter 3, 8 through 12. So if you're following along in a pew Bible, you could find that on page 1014. excuse me, 1015, and both of our texts will be found there. So let's give our attention to the reading of God's word once again. I'm going to read in your hearing 1 Peter 2, 11 through 12, and 1 Peter 3, 8 through 12. Peter says, And now turning to chapter 3 verses 8 through 12, he continues, Finally, all of you have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless. For to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. For whoever desires to love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good. Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. As far as the reading of God's word, the grass withers and the flower falls, but the word of our Lord stands forever, and we are grateful for it. Let's ask the Lord for help this morning. Father God, as we sang this morning, we need no other argument. We need no other plea. It is enough for us that Christ has died and that He died for me. Father, we stake our claim for our inheritance and our acceptance before You on the finished work of Jesus Christ. And this morning I pray very simply, Father, that as we confess those words, it would be met with a heartfelt desire and motivation through the power of the gospel to actually live out such a life. What does a life look like that looks for no other argument, no other plea, but that Christ has died, it is enough for us and even enough that He has died for me. What does a life like that look like, Father? I pray that You would show that to us through Your Word, and I pray that as we consider what that life looks like, that it would be an alternative to the acrimony that is shot through in our culture, and that we might be in truth and in reality, a city upon a hill. Father, make us that this morning through the ministry of Your Word. I pray that You would give me help to Your servant, that I might unpack this Word, show its beauty in the face of Jesus Christ, and that You would exhort us through Your Spirit to lay hold of it. We ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. This text has been, for me, in my study of it this week, something like flypaper. As I put my hands to it, I can't take them off. The more I consider what Peter is really summing up in this whole section of what we are to be to the world around us, that we are to be, in effect, an alternative community. We are to be, in effect, a people who are curiously and yet simplistically different than everybody else. When we look at the words in verse 8, finally, 1 Peter 3, verse 8, we're reminded that he is not finishing the book, we still have a few more chapters to go, but what he's doing is he's finishing a section where he has been laying out for the people of God A simple theme, and that simple theme is that we are in this world, exiles and sojourners on our way to heaven and our life accordingly is to demonstrate that. We are to demonstrate in our life that we don't have attachments to this world as if we were residents. but we have disattachments to this world as exiles and soldiers and through this section from chapter 2 verse 11 all the way to the end of our passage this morning in chapter 3 verse 12 he has systematically unpacked what that looks like first as citizens in the kingdom and then secondly as for some of the Christians in Asia Minor as slaves in this world and for others as wives in this world and for others as husbands in this world. And now, he's saying finally, because he's bringing it all to a head, and now instead of singling out the slaves or the citizens or the husbands or the wives, he says, all of you, speaking to the church. And so he's going to give us a reminder of what we are to be in this world. And what we are to be, very simply, is a testimony. We are to be evangelistic in our lives and how we live them so that the Holy Spirit can take our lives and as we express it, as we live it, as we flesh it out before other people in this world, He can use our lives as a, listen, a means to draw people in to the foot of the cross. Now make no mistake. The Holy Spirit doesn't need to use us to draw people. In fact, if you think biblically of all the ways that the Holy Spirit uses, the means, the toolbox, if you will, of means that the Holy Spirit uses to draw people to himself, it's quite fascinating. There are things that he uses and people that he uses that we might say, yeah, that makes sense. And then there's other means that he uses that would just boggle our minds. As I've told you before, R.C. Sproul was converted by a text in scripture that said, where a tree falls, there it lies. As if it rolled off the lips of Captain Obvious. Where a tree falls, there it lies. He was converted by that. And the Holy Spirit could do that. But the Holy Spirit is pleased to use people as transparency sheets, if you will, through which he could shine the effulgence and the glory of Jesus Christ through their lives. As you think about that, it reminds us, as I've often said, that believers are, in the world to unbelievers, something of a rock in their shoe. When they consider, for example, when we're going through trial or tribulation or difficulty, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding, that just floods our hearts and our minds, and it comes out in how we talk about trial, it comes out in how we work through trial. They look at that, and on the one hand, they don't understand it. In fact, as Peter said in 1 Peter 2, 11 and 12, they may even mock you for it. But you know what? I firmly believe, and perhaps you can resonate with this, even though they may mock you for it, and even though they don't understand it, I would say, and I would submit to you secretly, they covet it. They covet a faith. They covet a peace that can get them through this life. a peace that they don't have. I've had believers tell me before, after a long, drawn out, protracted debate about the existence of God, even when it was amicable, they say at the end of that, Josh, I wish I had the faith that you have. Now, you know, I could sit here and judge what their motives are in saying such a thing, but just taking it at face value, I think they're genuine. They would like to have the kind of faith that we have. They would like to have the kinds of questions answered that they don't have answered. And so we can be to them an evangelistic tool in the hands of the Spirit to bring them to the foot of the cross. And you know what, as I was thinking about this this week, It just reminded me of how incredibly relevant this concept is. Why? I want you to think for just a moment over the last two weeks. of the state of our country, the state of the country that we find ourselves in. After the Supreme Court nomination battle royale of the last two weeks, a number of articles have come out on the web, both secular and Christian, left and right. And what struck me as I was reading through these articles is that they all seem to be hitting on the same note. And that note is this, there is a deep cultural, moral, and philosophical divide in our country. Hostility levels have risen substantially. In fact, some articles even mention, I'm sure some of you saw this, they even mentioned the thought of an impending civil war. The irony of it all is that in a time when the buzzword of the day is tolerance, I wonder if there's ever been a time in our country when we've ever been so intolerant. Maybe they don't actually mean what they think they mean when they tell everybody to be tolerant. This national community is shot through with disunity and acrimony and hostility and vitriolic hatred, hard hearts and rampant pride. And you know what? I don't think anyone who finds themselves in the state of affairs would say that in all the acrimony, they are, as Peter says in verse 10, loving life and seeing good days. And secretly, perhaps even vocally, listen, They long for something more. They long for an alternative. If we were to parade these five adjectives in verse eight before them, Those five adjectives, sympathy, unity of mind, brotherly love, and a tender heart and a humble mind. I firmly believe that they would say, yes, that's what I want. Where do I find it? And Peter says, I'm glad you asked. I'll tell you where you find it. You find it in the assembly of the redeemed people of God who have been bought and purchased by the blood of Jesus Christ. In other words, we are to be in this world an alternative community. We are to be in this world something different from what the world is going in circles about chasing its own tail. We are to be an alternative community. But we might ask the question, are we truly an alternative community? Or do we simply name the name of Christ, but share in the despair and the acrimony with the rest of the world who has no hope? Well, in our passage this morning, Peter lays out for us two marks of an alternative community. And I would like to unpack them for you this morning. Two marks of an alternative community. And I believe that in these two marks, in verses 8 and 9, we will see this very simple principle. And listen very carefully. A Christian acts and speaks not according to what others are toward her. but according to what she is through the grace and spirit of God within her. That's the simple principle that Peter lays out in two marks of what an alternative community is. So let's consider these two marks for a moment. The first mark that we see in 1 Peter 3 is found in verse 8. What is the first mark of an alternative community? It is very simply this, they showcase a string of moral pearls that reflects the heart of Christ. They showcase a string of moral pearls that reflects the heart of Christ. In verse 8, as we already saw, Peter is signaling the final section of this exhortation to Christians as they flesh out their faith in the secular realm. And what he's going to do is he's going to sum it all up, not with participles and not with commands, but in a very stark way with five adjectives. And he is essentially saying to all the church, this is what not only you are, but what you are to be to one another, so that when people look in from the outside world, they see this beautiful picture of the heart of Christ budding and blossoming, not only in their individual lives, but in their one another life together. These five moral pearls, I'm calling them a string of five moral pearls that reflect the heart of Christ. And I just want to take them one by one very quickly here. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on them. But as we work through these, I want you to consider and ask yourself the question. Is this string of moral pearls something that I wear as a Christian, to speak metaphorically? Is this something through which the glory and the love and the majesty of Christ shines through me as I exhibit these moral pearls? And the first one is this, in verse eight, a unity of mind. a unity of mind, that simply means that we recognize that we are all on the same team, that we are all in the same state of grace, that we are all, listen, equally needy of grace. You know the best environment for legalism to flourish? When you don't believe that. that we are all equally in need of God's grace. When you begin to think, for example, that your brother or your sister needs more grace than you do because you've come a little bit further in your Christian walk. No, no. From the strongest to the weakest, to the oldest to the youngest, all of us need the same grace that comes from the cross of Calvary. And it is this unity of mind that exudes that very disposition But it doesn't mean that we agree on everything, does it? It doesn't mean that we all educate our children in the same way. It doesn't mean that we all have the same diet or read the same books or vote in the same way. In fact, I would submit to you this morning that unity is put on greatest display when people can rally around principle convictions which identify them as Christians despite the things that they disagree on. despite the lesser things, the secondary, the tertiary issues, we should, as Christians, covet unity. We oftentimes hear in this place, cite the Apostles' Creed, and one of the phrases there is, I believe in the holy, apostolic, and Catholic Church. What does Catholic mean? Universal. I remember one time when I was a missionary in Mexico, I was working with the Grace Brethren denomination, and I would meet different Grace Brethren pastors all over the place, and we went to a place in central Mexico, and I met a pastor there, and he was just, this guy was hardcore Protestant. And I didn't realize that after, until after I made the statement to him, but I was in conversation with him after I had been recently reflecting on the Apostles' Creed. I told him, I said, you know what, brother, I'm gonna tell you a secret. I covet the Catholicity of the Catholic Church. And oh my gosh, you could see the steam coming out of his ears. And he began to lambast me with a Protestant baseball bat. But I told him, I said, look, can I make a qualification? I understand that the Catholic Church doesn't actually deliver the Catholicity that they claim they deliver. That being said, the kind of Catholicity, the kind of universality that they have, I covet that. We're right around the corner from celebrating the Protestant Reformation, and I'm going to do that with every bone in my body. At the same time, I wonder, I wonder if we also recognize the liabilities that came from the Protestant Reformation. Make no mistake, no historical movement is infallible, inerrant, and inspired by God. And one of the liabilities or the underbellies of the Protestant Reformation is that I think there is a decreased desire for Catholicity. We should desire and covet Catholicism. You know, I think especially in the United States, it's easy not to desire this. It's easy not to see the need for this. Because in the United States, even in Virginia Beach, there is every kind of denomination imaginable in this town. And you could come to a church and you begin to sit under that leadership and be in fellowship with that people, and you could sit under the ministry of the word, and the moment the pastor rubs you the wrong way, or the moment a person offends you, or the moment you reach your quota of weirdness and people within the church, or the moment that you realize that not everybody homeschools their children, or not everybody is a card-carrying Republican, you decide to just bolt and go to another church and make a mess of that one. But when I was a missionary in Mexico and other countries that I've traveled to, you know what I found? I found that there's not as broad of a swath of denominational buffet in other countries. And I've been to Jordan, I've been to Israel, I've been to Mexico and a number of other places. And what I found oftentimes in those contexts is you will find a church that under one roof has reformed folk, evangelical folk, Lutheran folk, even Episcopalian folk, charismatic folk, all under one roof. Why? Because despite all their differences on secondary matters, they are agreed on the substance of the gospel. I think that that is something that we should covet. I am not saying that these other things are not important. But if we would divide over secondary and tertiary issues, if we would divide on cultural movements within the church, head coverings, homeschool, this, that, and the other thing, what will we become? How shall Christ find us when He returns? I covet that when he finds us, we will be a united church. Unity is a precious pearl that we should value, covet, fight for, and humbly display before a watching world. But look at the second pearl, sympathy. Sympathy very simply means you care. The word in the Greek literally means something like bowels of compassion or mercy. It speaks of that emotion, if you will, of care and concern for someone in the deepest recesses of your soul. What does that look like fleshed out at Grace Covenant Church? Here's what it doesn't look like. It doesn't look like Grace Covenant Church has a drive-through window where you can drive through, get your means of grace shot and be on your way. Here's what it looks like. It means that long after the benediction has landed upon you as a people, you are looking around and you're trying to find other people into whom you can pour. You're trying to find people that can pour into you. You're trying to find people that you can learn about what their struggles were for this week, and what their victories were for this week, and that you could praise God with them and pray with them and over them. And you wanna hear, and you know what, Grace? The two years that I've been here, some of the sweetest times that I have had have been after the Vesper services where until 9 o'clock sometimes, there are people in that corner having a serious theological conversation. There are people over here having a discipleship conversation. There are moms and dads chasing kids and other people laughing and sometimes people crying. Just sharing life together. And I commend you for that. And I encourage you to keep doing well in that area. You are putting on display this wonderful pearl of sympathy to the watching world. But also thirdly, brotherly love. This clearly draws on our own experience of closeness that we have with our own kin that we do not share with other blood relatives. But at the spiritual level, we understand that we are brothers and sisters in Christ through the work of Christ. Fourthly, a tender heart speaks of one who is malleable to others in their disposition. They are willing to listen, willing to sympathize, willing to give themselves to one another. And finally, a humble mind. A humble mind, one who has a humble mind, is one who has a sober assessment of him or herself. especially as they think of themselves in Jesus Christ. Let me flesh that a little bit more. A humble mind does not assume that he or she has all the doctrinal answers. A humble mind leaves room for weakness. A humble mind leaves room for mystery. A humble mind leaves room for loose ends. A humble mind leaves room for God to complete a work that He has begun in His saints. Do you understand the gravity of that? The gravity of that very simply is that we will be quick to listen and slow to speak, that we will be quick to accept and slow to judge. If you're not walking like I think you should be walking, then you may not be a Christian. No, no. A humble mind realizes the depth of depravity into which the Lord reached down and grabbed us and ever has that before us as we think about and assess our brothers and our sisters. That is a humble mind. All of these five pearls point to the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is, as it were, Jesus Christ, if you could think of it this way, who is wearing this string of moral principles, and the church, through those moral principles, is putting Christ on display to the world. So, I repeat, a Christian accent speaks not according to what others are towards her, but according to what she is through the grace and spirit of God in her. And now look at verse 9. Peter moves in verse 8 from who we are as a community, primarily to those who are like-minded with us, to now in verse 9, moving to how we respond to people who would speak evil against us and revile us. So consider secondly, the second mark of an alternative community, The alternative community goes against the grain of the world in responding to hatred and insult. The alternative community goes against the grain of the world in responding to hatred and insult. Listen to verse 9. These are difficult words, I confess. Do not repay evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing. Have you ever seen this vicious cycle perhaps in your children, or maybe even your teenagers, or maybe even in yourself? You hit me, I hit you harder. You slander me, I slander you more. It is a tit-for-tat response. And I would say that it is a natural mode of reciprocation for the natural man. It's just how the natural man thinks. You hurt me, I'll hurt you. That's just how the world works. It's also what people naturally expect. And some people simply never grow up. They simply become, what, more sophisticated in the ways they flesh out their tit-for-tat reciprocation. This is an idol. This is an idol of the reciprocation of evil. And what Christians are called to do is to smash the idols of the reciprocation of evil. Where the world has this particular pattern of evil for evil, slander for slander, reviling for reviling, the Christian world comes in and they give what? An alternative. Instead of reviling, they give love, they give blessing. Ever heard of the Hatfields and the McCoys? I once saw a rendition of the Hatfields and the McCoys on a, I think, a Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon. Why it was there, I have no idea. But I remember thinking, that's an oddity, but it's surely not true because it's in a Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoon. And then I grew up and learned a little history and found out that it's true. The feud of the Hatfields and the McCoys. I don't know who started it. I don't think anybody does. But maybe a Hatfield killed a McCoy, and then a McCoy killed a Hatfield, and the Hatfield killed another McCoy. And this cycle just went on and on and on. But someone has got to break the cycle of reviling for reviling by, listen, absorbing evil and reviling, and insult into Christian grace, into Christian silence, and responding in Christian blessing. We return blessing for cursing because we want love to win, not acrimony and animosity. And yet, in the context of this universally felt natural response of reciprocation for evil, the alternative community goes against the grain of the world. They smash the idols of reciprocation and return blessing for reviling evil. Why? Because they have a nature that has been transformed by the supernatural work of God. But how can we do something so unnatural? In giving the reason for returning blessing for evil, He gives us two reasons, two reasons why we can and are called to do this. And I've labeled them under two I's, identity and inheritance. Let's look at them separately. He says, but on the contrary, bless for to this you were called. To this you were called. What were you called to do? You were called to bless instead of returning reviling for reviling. This conduct of blessing is consistent with your calling as a Christian. You don't need to turn there, but just listen to the words of Paul for a moment in Ephesians 2.10. Because I think sometimes we think that A command like this, an exhortation like this, it's kind of optional. Like there's certain non-negotiable things you gotta be and do as a Christian, but then there's these kind of add-ons that, like an app, you can either put it on to your heart or you can dispose with it. But the reality is, this type of work is something that God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Listen to Paul in Ephesians 2.10. For we are his workmanship. created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." What does that mean? He has not only called you to salvation, He's not only called you to eventual glorification, but He has created works before the foundation of the world that you should walk in them. And here is one of them. God created us in Christ Jesus that we should walk in these. There is no disparity between your Christian calling and your Christian conduct. We must not render evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but give a blessing. But still, Josh, still, this is hard. As I think about maybe family members who revile me, or I think of coworkers who revile me, or I think of just drivers on the 264 that revile me. How can I return blessing for evil? Is this command impossible? Listen to me. There is no command in the Bible. I don't care if it's in the Old Testament, in the book of Leviticus, or in the book of Philippians, there is no command that does not have as its express intention to drive you to the foot of the cross. What do I mean by that? Yes, this command is impossible. You can't do it. And it's to the degree that you realize that you can't do it, that you go outside of yourself, and you go to the foot of the cross, and as you gaze up on that cross and see a Savior, who with blood coming down His face, and nails in His arms and in His feet, and a crown of thorns about His head, took upon the punishment that you deserve for not being able to fulfill this command as you should. And it is out of that experience, that daily and sometimes hourly experience, that you stop asking the question, can I do this? And you start telling yourself, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives within me. It is Christ through you, Grace Covenant Church. Christ through you that can give you the ability, the inclination, the proclivity, and the motivation to bless rather than return with reviling or evil. This is why the gospel is so important. The law comes to you and it says, do this and live. And you say, I can't. And so you run to Calvary and Christ, through His work, says, look at what I have done for you. And it is out of the experience, out of the gratitude, out of the reality of who you are in Christ, that now you can turn back to that command and say, by the grace of God, I am who I am. And who I am is the one who follows that Savior who on the cross said this, Father, forgive them for they know not what they do. He's had your heart this morning. It was a young deacon named Stephen who had this disposition. And as he preached a very fiery sermon in the book of Acts, he was met not with, thank you pastor, appreciate the sermon this morning. He was met with stones raining down on his head. And as he looked up when he got a chance to just take a breath and turn his eyes toward heaven, he says, Jesus, hold this knot against them. And yet he died. And it was a young unconverted Saul of Tarsus who witnessed that. And I believe that incident was used as a means to convert the heart of Saul. This is what Peter's getting at. Instead of Stephen saying, how dare you throw stones at me? I'm following Moses. I'm following Jesus. He says, Jesus Christ, do not hold this against them. Blessing for reviling, blessing for acrimony, blessing for stones. And as a result, a life was saved. This is what the church is here for. This is our testimony. We are the alternative community. The mobilization of the alternative community is fueled by the transforming power of the gospel. The gospel, dear congregation, has bite. The gospel has teeth. The Gospel changes people. It's only in the Gospel that people find an alternative to this acrimony. It's only in the Gospel that people look beyond themselves to the alien righteousness of Jesus Christ that can actually give them the blessing of life. This is the Gospel we preach. An appealing life is the result of the power of the Gospel in our lives. So I ask this morning, is this what your life looks like as part of the alternative community? So identity in Christ as those who are called to return blessing for reviling and evil is the first reason why we can bless our enemies. But now look at the second reason. Look at the second reason. He says, for to this you have been called, and then a little phrase for those Greek students among us, a hina clause, in order that, okay, in order that you may obtain a blessing. So you've been called to this, that's why you can bless rather than revile. In order that, it's like a twofold purpose, in order that you may inherit a blessing. So he says we are called to a conduct of blessing so that we can inherit a blessing. Now I believe if you look at your Bibles that the blessing here, because often times when we see the word blessing we think in very generic terms, but connected to verse 10, I believe the blessing here is connected to what the child of God desires in life. And in verse 10, we'll cover this in two weeks, verses 10 through 12, Peter's quoting from Psalm 34 to buttress his exhortation to the church. And he says, he who desires to love life and see good days. So I believe the blessing and loving life and seeing good days are connected here. So what he is talking about is your Christian life. Your Christian life that I might remind you does not begin when we get to heaven, but when does it begin? It begins when you're saved. So from the moment you were regenerate to the moment you get into heaven, this is the life that you love and the good days that God has promised you that you will see. But we see within this, on this side of the second return of Christ, and on that side of the second return of Christ, an already and a not yet. We have already been given this inheritance, but on the other hand, we have not been fully given this inheritance, and in the not yet of the new heavens and the new earth, we will be fully given this inheritance. So you want to see good life? You want to love life and see good days? We are to, as a result of our new nature in Christ, flesh it out by blessing those who revile us. Now, Peter is not saying, just to be clear, he is not saying that by blessing people who revile us, we inherit or obtain it. What he's saying is you operate out of the inheritance that you've already been given. In fact, the word obtained here in the Greek literally means inherit. And if you think of the concept of inheritance, inheritance is something that is given to you for which you did not what? Work. And so Peter is saying you have already been given on inheritance through the work of Jesus Christ. Now work out of that inheritance and bless those who revile you. In other words, what he's saying is be who you are. Be who you are. It is only in this gospel that people will be brought into a world of hope that looks beyond this present life unto life to come where all will be set right. So let me ask you a question this morning. Does your difference in life provide a lasting alternative or is it just a variation on a worldly thing? Let me ask that question again because I really want you to probe your hearts this morning. Does your difference in this life provide a lasting alternative or is it just a variation on a worldly thing? I think most people don't want to be a plain Jane or a bland Bill. I think they want to stick out by being different but not so different that they can't be accepted so there's a bit of a balance there. They want to be unique. They want to be noticed and appreciated and liked. If you don't believe me, consider that the whole premise of Facebook functions on what people like. As Christians, we want to be noticed too, but I think here's the key. Here's the heart, the burning heart and soul of what Peter's getting at. Christians want to be noticed too, but not so that we might be accepted but that those who notice us might be accepted before the Father through the work of Jesus Christ. You see the difference there? We are not trying to live a life so that we are finding acceptance from people. We want our life to be such that they find acceptance with the Father through Jesus Christ through us. So young people, let me ask you this morning. Ask yourself this question. Why do you want to be noticed? I don't know if you're millennial or not. I don't know. Some of you might be. I'm generation X. Raise your hand if you're generation X. Okay, good. Generation X. All right. When I was in high school, we prided ourselves on being generation X. We wanted to be different. You know how we were different? First off, we didn't listen to classical rock or Britney Spears pop stuff. We listened to alternative music. We listened to Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots. And we did not wear the name brand clothes of all the other preppies. We shopped at Goodwill. I got a pair of corduroy pants for $4.99 one time at Goodwill. I was so stoked. I wore my corduroy pants and my plaid shirt or my torn and tattered sweater singing Weezer and some other Kurt Cobain refrain. And we prided ourselves on being different. And then one day I was sitting in the quad at lunchtime and I just took a bite of my salami sandwich that I just freshly dipped in nacho cheese, because that's what different people did too. And I looked around and it hit me. Everybody's wearing Goodwill clothes. Everybody's listening to Nirvana. Even the FFA kids are listening to Nirvana. And I realized I'm not different at all. I just blended into the norms and standards of everyone else. Young people, you want to be different? You want to stand out among the crowd? The question you should ask is not, what shall I do to be different for difference sake? But what kind of difference will actually make a difference to those who see me? That's the kind of question that we should ask. Because make no mistake, she who marries the spirit of the age soon becomes a widow. You want to marry the spirit of the age? You're going to be a widow. But if you marry Jesus Christ through faith, he's the same yesterday, today, and forever. And it is through the person and work of Jesus Christ that your difference will actually make a difference. So don't bother with trends and customs. Instead, give yourself to the Spirit of God who gives you a desire for something greater than the approval of men. He gives you a desire for life worth living and goodness of days. And now finally, let me just speak to those of you in our congregation who are not converted, and there are some of you that are here this morning. Some of you hear this exhortation to bless in return for reviling, and bless in return for evil. And you say, I can't do that. I don't want to do that, and I will not do that. I'm going to return evil for evil. Somebody pushes me, I'm going to push them. Somebody slanders me, I'm going to slander them. Let me tell you something, friend. If you choose to live that way, you will die that way. And dying that way, you will go to judgment that way. And going to judgment that way, Christ will never own you as His. For Christ never allows that kind of spirit to be the reigning principle in anyone whom He calls into the inheritance of grace and saving mercy. Perhaps a text like this will be the very reason to convince you that you need Christ. The kind of justice that you want in this life will be the kind of justice by which you are judged. Do you want even Stephen justice in this life? You will be judged by even Stephen justice in the next life. And guess what kind of justice God holds you to? Guess what kind of standard God holds you to? He holds you to perfect, personal, and perpetual obedience. Not grading on a curve. There will be scales of justice in heaven. I promise you that. And good works will be placed on one side and bad works on the other. But you could put all your good works and your good thoughts and your good intentions on one side of the scale and the bad side will still slam down on the floor. The only quality and quantity of good works that will save you is the quantity and quality of the good works of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. And so you must look to Him outside of yourself, as the old divines used to say, to an alien righteousness, a foreign righteousness. Why do they say that? Because it's not in me. It's outside of me. You must look to that alien righteousness, turn from your sins, put your faith and trust in Him, and then all His good works become your good works. God looks at those good works completed and obeyed and fulfilled and says, I accept you because you have the robe of righteousness of Jesus Christ. I accept you because His perfect blood covered your transgressions. Friend, let me tell you something. You do not want even Stephen justice unless you have an advocate who can actually deliver it. So this morning, I exhort you, run to the foot of the cross. Run where justice and mercy meet. And if you have a penitent heart, God will grant you forgiveness through the person and work of Jesus Christ. Let's pray. Father God, we thank You for Your Son Jesus Christ. We thank You, Father, that He has not simply shed His blood to cover our sins, but He has lived a life of perfection, even while He was on the cross, being reviled, being slandered, having evil done to Him. He looked up with a heart of compassion for those who had nailed those nails into His hands and said, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. And Father, we know that through faith in Him, we are recipients and answers to that prayer. You do not hold against us the fact that we hold the hammer in our hand. We were the ones who pounded those nails into His feet and into His hands. We are the chief of sinners and yet, wonder of wonders, you have swooped down in a mercy sweep of grace and compassion to the person of your Son to deliver us from the consequences of our sin. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. So Father, this morning I pray that you would help us indeed and in truth to be this alternative community to this world so that you might be glorified and we might be satisfied. We ask these things in your Son's name. Amen.