The Gap (Part 2)

Alright, thank you guys very much. I apologize. I got a little bit behind on a couple of those or ahead or something. Anyway, I was clicking the button and the words didn't match the music. So hopefully you know the song well enough that it worked out okay for you. And hopefully it was a nice bit of song in your house and singing nice loud praises to God. And certainly do appreciate, again, your participation in the song service. It is a little bit hard not being able to hear you guys and not being able to know just how exuberantly everyone is singing. But I'm sure and I trust that you certainly are. Well, brethren, we have a chance to continue the message that we began this past week. And in Part 1 of this particular message, we explored the existence of this gap. And the title of the message, again, was the gap. And we explored the existence of this gap. And this gap is this place that exists between our expectations, between our reality, and in kind of these situations in our lives, which are important to us, you know, in these situations, which are important to us, when the reality of the situation doesn't meet our expectations, then this gap is a location where a great deal of our pain, our anger, our frustration, and our disappointment ultimately exist. You know, and the reason that that occurs is because we had in mind a certain outcome. We had in mind a certain outcome, and when that specific outcome doesn't materialize, it can be really challenging for us to rectify the difference. Now, for the message itself, we went ahead and took a look at several different examples. We took a look at three separate examples from Scripture. We looked at kind of the human side of these individuals a little bit. We examined John the Baptist, who was imprisoned at McCarris, who sent a message to Jesus Christ to ascertain whether or not he was the Messiah that they were waiting for, or if they should continue to look.

He wanted to know, are you the Messiah?

We examined Elijah. We examined Elijah's life. We examined the events that led up to this exhilarating events that occurred at Mount Carmel.

But we also examined afterwards the despondency that occurred after that momentum didn't continue, after the people were still dealing with the rule of Jezebel and of Ahab.

We looked at Peter, who, even after acknowledging that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, that he was the Messiah, proceeded to rebuke Christ for yielding himself to the Father's plan. All of these examples that we looked at are individuals that responded very humanly to a reality that didn't match their expectations. Now, I want to be clear, this doesn't take away any way from these men.

It doesn't somehow make them out to be less than the incredible spiritual examples they are. Brethren, it makes them human.

It makes them relatable. It makes them easy for us to understand that there were people that, throughout Scripture, they had doubts.

They had challenges. They had struggles. They had despair. They had pain. They had agony. Just as we do.

You know, as you go through Scripture and you look at this concept, this gap between expectation and reality, it's present from cover to cover.

You can see it in Hannah's sadness that she was this devout woman and yet she was still barren.

And the second wife of her husband continued to rib her over this. She vexed her over these things. There was sadness. There was a despair there.

We see it in Naomi's bitterness at the events of her life after her husband dies and after her sons die.

You can see it in the actions of Naaman and his expectations of Elisha. He expected this pomp and procession and great swelling words and this miraculous thing. And Elisha says, look, go go wash in the Jordan seven times. You know, slams the door in his face, so to speak.

And so he's so upset. He's so frustrated. He almost doesn't do it because the expectation was up here and yet the reality was here. They determined that as they looked at this, that this isn't how the story was supposed to go. This isn't how I had it set up in my head.

The reality in this case didn't match their expectations. Now in the last message, as we kind of analyze this, we focused primarily on the negative emotions that come from this gap. And there's a reason for that because we often don't need help dealing with situations that exceed our expectations.

But it should be noted. I think it's worth mentioning before we dig in the rest of the way here today. But I think it's worth mentioning that it's not always sadness and negative emotion that exists in the gap between reality and expectation. Sometimes reality exceeds expectation. And when our reality exceeds expectation, there is great happiness.

There is wonderful positive emotions.

You know, think of Joseph's reveal to his brothers.

After all that time. Think about the reveal that he had to his brothers.

Think about King Darius, who went rushed to the Dalian's den after tossing Daniel inside of it as a result of his edict.

And him being exceedingly glad, as Scripture records, when he discovered that Daniel lived. His expectations were that Daniel was dead.

And yet he was joyful to find out that he did in fact still live.

Look at the example of the return of the prodigal son, or the joy of Mary after Christ appears to her after his resurrection. Where this gap becomes a challenge for us as humans to deal with is when our expectations are unmet.

That's when it becomes challenging. And what makes it even more challenging for us is that we live in a world that is full of unrealistic expectations.

It's not our fault, necessarily. We're constantly exposed to movies and television and advertisements, which contain unrealistic depictions of life. Unrealistic depictions of life.

You know, the 90s sitcom Friends is probably one of the most classic examples of this. Some of you may remember the show. Two of the main characters in the show were splitting a 1500 square foot apartment in Manhattan's West Village.

Now, for those that are not super familiar with New York, that is pricey real estate in that particular area. And that is a huge apartment for New York.

1500 square feet in New York, especially in Manhattan's West Village, is massive.

Now, both of these main characters, they're both in their early 20s. One's working as a part-time barista and a waitress. The other's an aspiring chef.

That apartment would have run between $3,500 to $4,000 a month in the early 90s. There is no way that those two friends could have afforded to share that apartment based on their income. Now, the show explained it away. The show kind of said, well, they inherited this rent control agreement from one of the characters' grandmothers, and so their payment's only $200 a month as a result of this inherited rental control agreement. So they explained it away in the television show, but the reality is, if you watch enough television, you watch enough movies and advertisements, or you spend enough time on social media, you begin to become conditioned to what life should look like.

What life should look like. Some researchers believe that these unrealistic portrayals of life in movies and television are partly to blame for the skyrocketing anxiety and depression, skyrocketing substance abuse and other issues that have become prevalent in our society today as individuals struggle to cope. This concept, it has a name. It's called cultivation theory. Cultivation theory. Researchers refer to this concept as cultivation theory, and basically at its core, the idea is that media consumption changes your perception of the world around you.

You believe that the world that is created by the media that you consume is an accurate depiction of the real world.

Now, it has its limitations. I want to make that abundantly clear. The theory has its limitations. But cultivation theorists in broadcast media would argue that as movies, television, social media, advertising, and the like have consistently, over the past, you know, 40, 50 years, really since the major inception of television in the homes of Americans, they argue that these movies and television and social media and the advertising that comes along with it have painted this unrealistic kind of picture, unrealistic expectations of our lifestyle, of our relationships, of our marriages, of our sex lives.

And we, as the consumer, begin to think that we deserve the picture that exists in our head.

When that doesn't happen, we get upset. We get disappointed. We get frustrated, or we might even get angry. We had our expectations are way up here. And our reality is clear down here.

There's a gap. In short, cultivation theory kind of attests that we live largely in an age of entitlement, that we live largely in an age of entitlement. And as a result of that entitlement, we really believe that we deserve nothing but the best. We deserve a problem, free life. We deserve no inconveniences, no unhappiness. We deserve a life of perfection. After all, I mean, that's what's exhibited on social media today, isn't it? A carefully curated and selected life of perfection.

And it's an unrealistic expectation.

Now, if we consider, again, that the difference between expectation and reality is this gap, and that inside of this gap exists the pain and the emotional response to that discrepancy between the expectations and our reality, then really, when you think about it, there's only a few options available for us to be able to rectify that issue. You could either drastically lower your expectations, you can change or alter your reality, or you can find some other way to fill the gap. And so when it comes to people in their process of trying to cope, you can lower the expectations, you can change your reality, or you can fill that gap. The title of this message today is The Gap Part Two, and where we spent the first message establishing the concept and exploring some scriptural examples, today I would like to take the time that we have in this second split to really consider the first two of these options. The first two of these options. Consider our lives today as Christians and talk about how we can operate with respect to this gap, and then in the final message we will explore what filling this gap looks like in our lives today. We will dig into that very specifically in that final message. Now we left off with Peter's example in the last message purposefully, because I wanted to take the time in this message to analyze and to consider how Peter's viewpoint changed over time, and changed as a result of his experiences, as a result of what he went through with Jesus Christ as a disciple, and not only that, with God's spirit working with him to better understand God's will, and ultimately where God's will intersects with his life, and ultimately through his experiences and his writings, how God's will intersects with our lives. In Matthew 16, we saw a Peter that was upset at Christ's revelation of his suffering and death to his disciples. You know, Peter had been along, he had seen the miracles, he had been present for the teachings, he had come to believe that Christ was the one whom they had been waiting for. In fact, there at Caesarea Philippi, as we talked about in the last message, Christ confirmed it. And he went even further than that. He confirmed it, and he told his disciples, don't tell anybody, okay? Keep that on the down low. But when Christ opened up and said that he was going to have to go to Jerusalem, that he was going to have to suffer, and he was going to have to die, and then be resurrected ultimately, Peter was having none of it. He reacted. Peter reacted very humanly to Christ's words, and he rebuked the Messiah. Now keep in mind, this is the same Peter that when confronted with what his Messiah told him must happen on the night of his betrayal, informed Christ that he would never stumble as a result of him. That even if he had to die with him, he would never, ever, ever deny him. Later that evening, as the specific events that Christ told him would happen began to unfold, Peter drew his sword and chopped the ear off of the high priest servant, Malchus. Temple guards came to seize Christ in Garden of Gethsemane.

Despite Christ's assertion that this is what had to happen, despite Christ's response to his rebuke in Matthew 16, despite his own words to the contrary that he would die alongside him, Peter still drew his sword when the time came to intervene. This isn't how the story goes. I will not let it happen. This St. Peter, as we know from Scripture, did in fact deny his Lord three times before the sun came up in the rooster crowed. This St. Peter wept bitterly when Christ's eyes pierced the crowd and they rested on him, and he realized that the expectations that he had of his own spiritual fortitude did not meet reality. And again, I don't mention these things to take away from who and what Peter is. I mention these things for us to recognize. Brethren, the people that are in Scripture are human just like us. They struggle, too, with this discrepancy between expectation and reality. They struggle with the emotion that comes from these things. The point of Christ's arrest and his prosecution and his crucifixion, Peter's world came apart. You know, he had found the Messiah. This was the person who was going to come back and was going to overthrow the Romans, and then all of a sudden, wait a minute, the plans have changed. What do I do with this? How do I process this? How do I go forward from here? Because this isn't what I expected was going to happen. But here we are. You know, interestingly, as we go through Christ's crucifixion and resurrection, you know, in the time since his resurrection, Christ had appeared several times to the disciples in various groupings. You know, he revealed himself to Mary at the tomb. He revealed himself to the two disciples on the road to Emma's. He appeared among the disciples in a room discussing his resurrection, and Thomas wasn't present at that time. Then he appeared again to them, this time with Thomas present. But then in John 21, he appears to the seven disciples as they went, as they were fishing. Let's go ahead and turn to John 21, and we'll go ahead and pick it up in verse 15 today. John 21 and verse 15.

At this point, Christ has instructed them where to put the nets. You know, I always wish sometimes when I'm out fishing that, you know, Christ tell me sometimes, hey, here's the line you want to drift that jig through. There's about six steelhead down there at the bottom of that hole. Just run it through there one after another, you'll pick them up. But that's not how it works.

That's not how it works for me, at least. I don't know, some of you. I know Dean Winsley catches a lot of fish. Maybe that's how it works for him. But John 21, we'll have opportunity here to take a look at John's words here as to what transcribed as he appeared to his disciples. You know, Christ told them where to put the net. He told them to drop it down. They catch this boatload of fish. They realize it's Christ standing on the shore. Peter throws on his garment, jumps into the water, hauls the net ashore, where there's a cooking fire awaiting them. We'll pick it up in verse 15 of John 21. John 21 and verse 15 says, so when they eat in breakfast, Jesus said to Simon, Peter, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? Not only that, do you love me more than these.

He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And he said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. And he said to him, tend my sheep. He said to him a third time, Simon, son of Jonah, do you love me? And Peter was grieved, it says. Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things, you know that I love you. Jesus said to him, feed my sheep. Verse 18, we can see... now actually, let's hold off on 18 for just a minute. Let's hold off on verse 18. We'll go to that in just a second. But what's interesting about this particular interaction is, if you dig into the Greek words that are used here, it's kind of fascinating. Christ actually asked him, the first two times that he asked him the question, he says Peter, or Simon, son of Jonah, do you agape me? And Peter's response is, I phileo you.

He's using the Greek word phileo. Do you agape me? I phileo you. I love you like a brother. I have affection for you. I love you. Now, in the times of the Greeks, these two words were somewhat interchangeable, but it's interesting to me that Peter specifically uses a different word in his response. So the first two times he asked him, do you agape me? And Peter's response is, you know, I phileo you. I have affection for you. I love you. But the third time, Christ asked Peter, do you phileo me? And Peter is grieved. Now, he may be grieved for one of a couple of reasons. He may be grieved because Christ asked him three times. That hearkens back to the denial. Or it could be that the third time that he asked, because he changed the word for love, Peter was grieved as a result of him acquiescing to this idea of maybe a lesser, quote-unquote, love than what Christ was looking for. But it's impossible to know, but it's interesting nonetheless. But Christ insinuates to Peter that Peter has something to do if he really truly does love him. That he needs to feed his lambs. He needs to care for them. He needs to kind of herd them and tend to them. That there's an expectation that he has on Peter for what that's going to look like going forward as they go through and as Christ's church builds. The same church that he discussed with him in Matthew 16 while they stood there at Caesarea Philippi. Verse 18, we'll go ahead and pick it up there, John 21 and verse 18, says, Most assuredly I say to you, when you were younger you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you were old you will stretch out your hands and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. Verse 19, thus he spoke, signifying by what death he, Peter, would glorify God. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, follow me. Now remember John is writing this gospel late comparatively to the other gospels. He's got the benefit of hindsight in some ways. He's writing to fill in the details the other gospels didn't necessarily cover. But it seems pretty clear here that Jesus Christ told Peter, listen, this is where your story ends. Again, John's writing this later because at the time of the writing there's a number of these false teachers that have gone out. They're teaching falsehoods about the nature of Christ, they're teaching falsehoods about his coming, a number of these other heresies. And John has this degree of hindsight as he's writing 30 years down the road from some of these events that were told by Christ here that we're going to take place. So he records this little component that gives us clarity. That Christ was informing Peter of the death that he would experience to glorify God. That he would be bound in his old age, that his hands would be stretched out, and he would be carried somewhere where he did not wish.

Again, Christ tells Peter this is the story. This is the story. This is the will of God for you, Peter. And the question is, knowing how it ends, will you follow me? Will you care for my sheep?

Will you love me? Of course, Peter, being Peter, looks to John basically at this point and says, what about him? What's going to happen to him? Tell us how he dies. Christ tells Peter, what's that to you? Don't worry about John. You take care of you. I'll take care of John. You take care of you. Let's go over to 1 Peter, because there's a lot that happens between the words that we just read and the words that we're going to read next. God's Spirit, obviously, is given to the disciples, is poured out on the early church, is given to the Gentiles upon baptism. Peter matures incredibly from this point on forward as he goes through the next 30 or so years, up to the point of the writing of the Epistles of Peter.

So Peter matures spiritually. He comes to understand God's will in a way that many others can't as he yielded to God, and ultimately yielded himself to a life that ended in the exact fashion, as Christ said, that the story was going to end. In the book of 1 Peter, if you want to again begin turning over there, the book of 1 Peter was likely written between 60 to 64 AD.

Some scholars argue for a later dating in the early 90s, but honestly, it doesn't appear based on a number of other things that Peter and John were really concurrent in that regard. Evidence that seems to point to Peter's death at 64 AD, kind of roughly in the purge that happened at the hands of Nero.

64 AD, we have this historically records this massive persecution and purge of Christians that took place in Rome at the hands of Emperor Nero. Now, it's believed that part of Nero's reasoning for doing this was that he desired to make Rome more stately, desired to make Rome more, you know, flashy, so to speak, and as part of his plan, set a number of fires throughout the city to kind of burn down some of the ramshackle buildings so that those buildings could be rebuilt in marble and make these incredible palaces, these incredible things that would be remembered, and he ultimately would be remembered through those things.

Well, in the process, he had a couple of problems. One of those problems was this Christian faith that was occurring at that time, and so he kind of killed two birds with one stone. He said, well, I can burn the city down, and not only that, I can blame those fires on these Christians, and as a result, turn public perception against them, you know, use the fires and other things to be able to encourage this major persecution and purge.

And so we know between, you know, kind of the 63-64 AD, we have Christians being killed left and right in Rome. Nero was ordering them to be thrown to the dogs. They were burned alive. They were crucified, and it's believed that Paul met his death during this persecution as well as Peter met his death during this persecution right around 64 AD, and as the tradition holds, that he was crucified. His arms outstretched, as Christ said, but he chose to be crucified upside down.

So the evidence seems to indicate that Peter wrote the epistle of 1 Peter from Rome. In 1 Peter 5 verse 13, you can jot that down in your notes if you'd like, he says, she who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you, and so does Mark, my son. Now, there's no real evidence that Peter was in literal Babylon at that point in time, that he was down in the southern portion of the Sinai Peninsula where Babylon and the kingdoms of Babylon were at one point in time, but it appears to be a reference of a figurative Babylon that most scholars agree is Rome.

And so he's saying she who is in Babylon, the church who is in Rome, elect together with you, greets you, and so does Mark, my son. So we believe, at least looking at the evidence, that Peter had a firsthand account of the events of this persecution. So when we read 1 Peter, and when we read 2 Peter, these are the things that are going on in the background.

This is the context to what's going on in the background of these writings. Verses 13 to 17 of 1 Peter 1. 1 Peter 1 verse 13 says, therefore...

Oops, hold on, making sure I'm in the right place. 1 Peter 1 verse 13.

That is not where I want to be. Am I in 2 Peter? I'm not in 2 Peter. What did I do? Oh, it's 2! 1 Peter 2 verse 13. I'm sorry, everybody. 1 Peter 2 and verse 13. 1 Peter 2 verse 13 says, therefore submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether to the king as supreme or to governors as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. As free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God, honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. So Peter records this in the midst of Nero's reign, likely recording it as some of this persecution is picking up and increasing toward the Christians that are there in Rome in particular, but, you know, are being the stories that are going out and these things that are happening and people are hearing of the various things that are going on.

But in that he records, honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the king.

And he says, what is God's will? What does he record God's will as being here? He says, God's will is that we submit ourselves to the governing authorities, which God has said according to His will. And that's the piece that connects these things, that these individuals who are ruling, they are ruling as a result of God's appointment to those positions for His purposes, so that His purposes may be achieved at that point in time. But he says to submit ourselves to the governing authorities, which God has said according to His will, to His will, to achieve His purposes. It also says that we do good despite their actions, that by doing good despite those actions we put to silence the ignorance of foolish men.

It says not that we use the liberty that we have in God as this cloak for vice, that, you know, we're choosing to do these different things that we would like to do, but as to serve instead as bond servants of God. Again, he finishes with honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, and honor the King. And brethren, that King was Nero. That King was Nero, one of the most horrific rulers that Rome experienced. In fact, some believed at that point in time as a result of the different things that Nero did, that he was the Antichrist that Scripture spoke of. In fact, many believers at the time of John's writing of Revelation believed the coming Antichrist that he referenced would actually be a reincarnation of Nero. Either a literal reincarnation or someone who comes in a similar fashion to Nero, similar to how there would be in end-time Elijah.

Interestingly enough, the old Armenian word for Antichrist is Nero.

Yet what did Peter say? Peter said submit yourself to the ordinance of man, not for their sake, but for whose sake? For the Lord's sake! As to those that were sent by him for punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good. In other words, just like you would submit yourself to those who are good rulers. As to those that were sent by him for punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do good. Just like you would for the good ones.

For this is God's will. Now, we talk a lot about God's will. We make presumption sometimes about it. We consider certain events to be God's will, other events to be against God's will. What does Scripture actually say about God's will? I'm going to rapid fire off a couple of passages here. Jot them down in your notes. Romans 12 and verse 2. Romans 12 and verse 2 talks about being transformed by the renewal of our mind. Okay, Mr. Miller referenced this passage today. It talks about being transformed by the renewal of our mind so that we can discern God's will. In other words, by yielding ourselves to his spirit, maintaining our focus on his ways, not our ways, his ways, on the godly things, not the earthly things, we can discern what God's good, acceptable, and perfect will is. Romans 12 verse 2. Verse Thessalonians 5 verse 18. Verse Thessalonians 5 verse 18 tells us to give thanks in all circumstances, good and bad, for that is the will of God for us. That we are thankful in all circumstances that we find ourselves in. That is God's will for us.

Verse Thessalonians 4 and verse 3. Verse Thessalonians 4 and verse 3 says that the will of God is our sanctification. That the will of God is our sanctification, our holiness, our spiritual maturation as we become more and more like Jesus Christ. That it is God's will that we be sanctified. That we be holy. That we mature spiritually. And we become more like His Son. Hebrews 10 verse 36 tells us that we will have need of endurance. That we'll have need of patience. So that when we have done God's will, that we will receive what is promised. Hebrews 10 verse 36. Ephesians 5 verse 15 says that we should walk circumspectly, not as fools, redeeming the time, not unwise, instead understanding what the will of the Lord is.

Talks about walking circumspectly, redeeming the time, not using that time unwisely, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. Now we recognize God most certainly loves us.

God absolutely cares for us. He provides for us. He blesses us. He's working in our lives, in each and every one of our lives. He's working to finish what He has started within us.

But brethren, there's times where we only grow spiritually, at times, through adversity, through challenge, through difficulty. You know, we have a number of scriptures inside of our Bibles where God allowed what we would define as bad things, quote unquote, to happen in order to achieve His will and His purposes. Joseph was thrown in a pit. Hananiah, Azariah, and Michelle, they were thrown into a fiery furnace. Job lost almost everything. The prophets suffered at the hands of their own people. John the Baptist died in prison. The apostles were martyred.

But brethren, all of these things ultimately worked for good. If these things were recognized up front as being bad and somehow stopped, or they were prevented based on our own definition of what we think is right, or what we think should occur, are we truly allowing for the will of God in our lives? You know, Job famously concluded, Job 2, verse 10, said, shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?

Job understood. God's in control. God's on His throne, despite the various things that are happening to Him, that God's will is what will be done, that His purposes will be what is achieved, whether, frankly, we agree with it or not. That God is God, and we are not.

Now, the difficulty with our expectations is that they don't necessarily leave much room for God's will in our lives. If we feel, for example, that we shouldn't have to deal with this particular challenge, we shouldn't have to experience pain or suffering or difficulty or loss, and yet that reality is pain, suffering, loss, or some other challenge, what we're going to have is a gap that exists between what God is doing in our lives for us to learn, for us to grow, and what we thought was going to happen.

And in that gap, we're frustrated, we're disappointed, we're angry, and we have these negative experiences and these negative emotions that come. So is the answer, just lower your expectations! Just assume the worst in all circumstances so you'll always be pleasantly surprised. No. That sounds exhausting, personally, to just assume that the absolute worst is going to happen so that when something a little bit more than the absolute worst happens, I can be happy. No. No, that sounds exhausting. There is a place for hope in this life. There's a place for understanding and for hope, but it is absolutely essential that the focus of that hope is in the right place. It's absolutely essential that we're managing our expectations in accordance with that hope. That we're managing our expectations in accordance with that hope. Let's turn over to 1 Peter 4 and verse 12. 1 Peter 4, and we'll pick it up in verse 12. 1 Peter 4 and verse 12 says, just should be across the page from where you are currently. It says, Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you.

As though some strange thing happened to you. In other words, don't be surprised.

In some ways, expect trials to come. Again, managing our expectations, understanding that we're looking forward to that great hope. That we're looking forward to that great hope. Beloved, do not think it strange. Verse 12 again, concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you. But rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ's sufferings.

That when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy.

If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. Verse 15 says, but let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busy body in other people's matters. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. Verse 17, for the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God, and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?

Now if the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?

Verse 19, therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to him in doing good as to a faithful Creator. So Paul, or Paul, sorry, Peter, is writing to those who receive this particular epistle from Rome, where the persecution of believers was beginning or potentially ongoing already. He's writing to them about suffering. He's writing to them about the opportunities that their suffering provides, the lessons which can be learned, and the growth which can occur. But he also tells them that you can suffer sometimes as a result of your own choices. He says, let none of you suffer as a murderer, as a thief, as an evildoer, as a busy body in people's matters. He says sometimes you can make choices and you can cause suffering that are a result of your own choices. What he says is if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter. He says, don't be surprised. Expect challenges. Expect difficulties. Rejoice in that suffering that we experience. Because, as he writes in verse 10 of 1 Peter 5, verse 10 of 1 Peter 5, he says, after we have suffered for a while, that God perfects us, that he establishes us, that he strengthens us, and that he settles us. He concludes this particular passage by telling him that those who were suffering according to the will of God should commit their being to him in doing good. That despite the challenges, despite the suffering that they experience, that they continue to do good in spite of those challenges.

To not grow weary of doing good. To keep their hope focused on the kingdom of God. Being ready to give an answer for the hope that what is to come is so much better than all of this. In fact, it almost alludes to that a little bit in the section where it talks about that when his glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. Almost like the reality of that is going to exceed even our wildest expectations. That we will be exceedingly joyful, exceedingly glad. That there will be a great positive emotion that comes from that thing. So, as we face our challenges that we have in life, as we face the different times in our life when our expectations don't necessarily line up with reality, I think it's important that we ask ourselves some questions.

I think it's absolutely perfectly right to be able to ask ourselves when we go into certain scenarios, what exactly do I expect from this situation? And I think sometimes asking that question just even partially out loud to yourself is enough to get you at least thinking about the expectation itself and whether that expectation is actually reasonable in that circumstance. Just even asking, what do I expect from this situation? What do I expect from this scenario? Sometimes asking ourselves whether the expectations that we do have are realistic. And I don't mean fatalistic. I don't mean fatalistic in that we look at that and be like, oh well, none of them are realistic. No. Is what I'm expecting to have happen in this scenario, is that realistic? Or have I falsely concluded that this is the way things should be based on my own personal expectations or the expectations that I've had painted for me by someone else? When that gap between our expectations and reality does occur, it's okay to acknowledge the disappointment. It's okay to be okay with the existence of that disappointment and analyze that situation and ask ourselves what can be done differently next time so that I can manage my expectations so that reality and the expectation align more closely.

Just to kind of bring an example from just what we've experienced in the last little bit. 2020 has been a year for the books, folks. We have experienced challenges this year like no other that we have faced in the past several decades. We've had a pandemic that has largely shut the world down. We've had restrictions that we've experienced that have caused a great deal of questions about personal liberty, about our rights, about what a government can and cannot do under a state of emergency. Add to all of that one of the most contentious elections that I can remember in my lifetime. Civil, societal unrest. This year is going to be one that is not easily forgotten. And quite frankly, and I think you're all concerned about this as I am, it may well serve as a precedent for things to come. But in all of those things, in everything we just mentioned, the pandemic, the religious liberties that are being kind of wiggled around a little bit, the different personal liberties in our rights, and the election, and civil and societal unrest. Brethren, we sometimes forget all of these things are happening in accordance with God's will and God's purposes.

Now, we may have a very different expectation. We may have expected to live our lives and worship our God without government intrusion. We may have expected that the groundswell of conservative voices that we've heard over the last four to six years, this thundering economy that the United States is experiencing, we may have expected that those things would win the day in the latest election. We may have expected that the media would open their eyes, that they would change the narrative on the rioting in the streets of Portland after six months of almost nightly riots and millions upon millions of dollars in damage. We may have had different expectations. We may have expected these things, but respectfully, brethren, why do we expect that? Why do we expect that? Prophetically, we know what's coming. The trials that we've experienced are the beginnings of sorrows, the initial birth pangs, the contractions of a time in which extreme challenges are going to occur. A time which is described as being like no other time in history. We just talked about what Nero did to Christians in 64 AD. There is a time of extreme challenges coming. Why did we expect anything different? Partly, brethren, is because we have allowed ourselves to expect something that is outside of what God happens to be doing at this time as he is allowing these things to occur. Again, prophetically, we know what's coming. We know that these trials are going to increase. They're going to become more severe. They're going to happen faster, just like the contractions of a birth occur. But we also know that at the end of all of those things comes an absolutely incredible promise. Let's turn over to Hebrews 10 verse 32. We referenced it earlier when we were talking about God's will, Hebrews 10 and verse 32.

Let's go ahead and turn over there real quick. I want to take a look at the passage in its entirety because I think it helps to recognize what God is doing in these difficult times. Hebrews 10 and verse 32. Talking here about living by faith, Hebrews 10 and verse 32 says, But recall the former days in which after you were illuminated you endured a great struggle with sufferings, partly while you were made a spectacle, both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated.

Says for you had compassion on me and my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves Therefore, do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward, for you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God you may receive the promise. Verse 37, he explains that promise. For yet a little while, and he who is coming will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith, but if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. Writer of Hebrews asked the believers who received this particular epistle to remember back to the early days. When after they were called, and God's way of life was illuminated to them, they were enlightened, so to speak, they endured great struggle with sufferings. He says they were made a spectacle through the reproach of others by tribulation, and partly because of their association with people who are being treated as such in the world around them. And he says they joyfully accepted the plundering of their goods, knowing that they have a better and an enduring possession in heaven. They joyfully accepted it because they knew that the eventual expectation was greater. He tells them they have need of endurance, upamone, a steadfast, a patient expectation and faith of the time which he describes, the time when Messiah returns. He says don't draw back, continue to believe, continue to act accordingly, continue to look forward with hope to that time.

Change the word slightly. Don't let the gap get you down. There's something better coming.

Make that your expectation. Make that your expectation.

Now, sometimes, despite our best efforts, we are disappointed. We are challenged by our reality despite even what we know is coming. God created humanity with free will. We have the ability to change our reality if we don't like it. If we're frustrated with our employment, we can change jobs, we can change careers even, we can completely shift what it is that we want to do or what it is that we're going to do. We have the ability to go and to gain schooling or other training to help make ourselves more effective, more irreplaceable if we're concerned with a reduction in force. I remember when the budget cuts were coming in 2008, I had just started at Waldo, and I was a lowman on the totem pole in the science department. And the way the district did reductions in force at that time was they went for basically who had the least amount of seniority. And I knew that was me. So I signed up for every single possible class I could find on anything with the principle of one of two things are going to happen. Either A, I'm going to be so trained and they've spent so much money on me they don't dare get rid of me, or two, if they do get rid of me, I have all of this training that I could put on my resume.

Either way, it worked out okay. But we have the ability to get schooling, get training. We have the ability, if we're struggling with falling short on the expectations that God has placed on us as Christians, we can take actions to seek the help that we need. We have the ability to control our ship in many ways. We do have a lot of control over our own lives to make improvements, kind of nudge the reality of our lives maybe a little closer to our expectations. And I think as you look at God and the way that God works, I think we can recognize God can work His will through any of these eventualities. You know, God can bless us or challenge us in a number of different job opportunities. He can teach us lessons behind the wheel of, it doesn't matter which car you purchase, what car you choose, what color car you choose, it doesn't matter. God can teach you the same lessons behind the wheel of a Lexus as He can behind the wheel of a Ford Taurus.

God can work through your individual circumstances for your own sanctification.

He can provide you with opportunities to be thankful. He can provide you with opportunities to discern His will through our submission to His Spirit and through the choices that we make to wisely redeem the time. You know, all these things can be done in a variety of different ways. If you just look at the variety of life experiences, variety of roles and employment opportunities, vehicles, homes, lifestyles, which the body of Christ exhibits. You know, Mr. Miller brought this point out today that there's so many different aspects of the body and we're working in unison together. We're not all number two pencils with the same car, same job, same life. God teaches us through a wide variety of experiences and circumstances, quite frankly, many of which are up to our personal choices. But we also recognize that there are times in our lives where it seems like no matter what we do, we cannot seem to change the circumstances that we find ourselves in. And that can be very difficult to work with. Sometimes that is the result of our own choices. Sometimes those are the things that we the results that come from choices that we have made. But at other times, it may be a result of God working something in our lives as he did with Joseph. You know, Joseph was sold into slavery and spent 13 years of his life as a slave or after a false accusation in prison before God's purpose for that situation was even fulfilled.

With the benefit of hindsight, Joseph could conclude that God was working something mightily in his life. I'll tell you what, I can imagine at the time after being thrown into a pit by your brothers, being sold into slavery into Egypt, being falsely accused, being imprisoned, being forgotten by the guy who you helped out for a number of other years, I imagine there was a great deal of disappointment and a great deal of frustration at the reality of the experience, because Joseph had dreams. He had a certain degree of expectation that was set there.

Now, those expectations eventually came true, but he went through a whole bunch of challenge before they did. Realistically, in Joseph's scenario, the control of that particular situation was largely taken out of his hands. The events unfolded as God purposed. And in our own lives, there exist certain circumstances in life where the control is just simply not in our own hands. You know, we can't necessarily will away cancer. We can't personally restore someone that we have lost. We can pray like crazy, and we do. Pray like crazy. And sometimes, even though we pray like crazy, God's answer is still no. In those circumstances, changing our reality is not really an option. It simply is what it is. But there is a solution. There is a solution.

We can fill the gap. We can fill the gap. Filling the gap bridges this chasm between our expectations and the reality that we face. You know, even when those things are discrepant, when these two places are so discrepant, sometimes even very widely so, our appropriate filling of that gap enables us to manage our expectations and to acknowledge and even accept our present reality.

Next time, in the final message of the series, we're going to explore what filling that gap looks like in our lives today as Christians. I hope you all have a most wonderful Sabbath. I look forward to joining you on Zoom this afternoon for some much-needed Sabbath fellowship. If you have not yet, check your email and found that. Check your spam folder just in case as well, but there's a link there to the Zoom room that we will use. Again, there is a gap of or a total of 100 allowed in there, but we would love to see you. We're going to do some questions that are attached to that email and do some random breakout groups so folks have a chance to fellowship. So, hope you all have a wonderful Sabbath and look forward to joining you all on Zoom this afternoon.