In America's colonial period, there was first instituted an inoculation of cow pox to give immunity to the far more dangerous and dreaded smallpox disease from which many passed on to the next life. At first there was much suspicion about the procedure which would often make one sick even though survival of the greater and worse disease could be anticipated. According to my memory, when the procedure was introduced in Philadelphia the clergy were all for using the experimental procedure while the local scientific minds, including Ben Franklin were opposed. It was not until a close relative of Franklin's was carried away that he began to rethink the viability of the procedure. Today we live in a time when only the older generations show the one scar of the cow pox vaccination and the younger generations are content to know that the small pox virus is no longer free in the wild, the last cases having been known fifteen or twenty years ago!

Now, I introduce our text in this manner to make a specific point in regard to the emotional, physical and spiritual suffering of the Christian in this life. Just as coming to Christ brings its final eternal rewards, so does the acceptance of Him as Lord and Savior negate the final and eternal suffering of the damned after the end of the age. According to Dr Keener's observation, "Jewish tradition often emphasized that the righteous experienced their sufferings in this age but that the wicked would experience theirs throughout the age to come." Thus, the conceptual health available in this life from inoculation can almost symbolize the salvation implicit in sharing in the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ as a small price to pay for avoiding the far worse spiritual death of eternity in hell!

Now one word of caution, the Jewish mind today somewhat maintains the same tradition of a popular t-shirt once common with Viet Nam veterans: "I served my time in hell, now I deserve better." Now that is not an exact quote, because it has been some time since I saw one of those old rags. However, the attitude that suffering implicit or explicit guarantees the sufferer a special claim on final justice misses the whole point that at the end of the age, the last thing we want is justice - mercy, mercy in Christ can be our only plea and it is in that thought that the comparison of my initial report breaks down.

The fact that justice is not our aim is explained in verse three. "For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles - when we walked in lewdness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries." Enough sin to earn a guilty judgment is our common heritage. Even in Christ, we continue our struggles with the old man or the old woman, struggle enough to realize that we must earnestly desire the great mercy of God's consideration of our plight.

Having then realized that great mercy and having begun the sanctification process of putting off the old habits and learning the new, we are surprised to draw the attention of the worldly whose sinful prejudice must oppose our reformation and restoration. Look at verse four for the obvious observation of how the worldly react to our taking on the new life. When I was in the Army, just the fact that I did not drink alcohol brought all manner of good humor. In one unit it got so bad that I found a way to disappear the first weekend of the month when the alcoholics would drink up their month's pay. The rest of the month would always be quieter because I and another couple of people were the only one's who had any money left. As time went on a few of the drunks began to leave some money with me to hold for them until the middle of the month. Their instructions were simple, no matter how obnoxious they became I should not give them their money until the appropriate date. That experiment lasted only a couple of months of course, because the worldly nature knows no limits to its fondest desires.

Verse five is not only the saddest verse in the passage, but also the most essential. Judgment will come and it wall be final as well as fair. The way out of this sad affair is contained in the next verse. Yes, there is a hint of our passage last week, but I will not go there again. Let us focus on the fact that the gospel is, was and will be preached to all men in some form of Christliness that their judgment in the flesh is well deserved. Life to every man comes only according to God in the Spirit.

What evidence is there of the Spirit in the life of the Christian and Christ's Church? Now, we have to be careful here or we might fall into the fundamentalist's trap and find another avenue to work's righteousness whereby those in Christ are noted by their lack of obvious worldly habits. You have all heard the routine from such authorities: now drinking, no smoking, no dancing, no entertainment - any and all of the obvious vices become a long list of no-no's which people avoid to get into heaven!

Yes there are things that we ought not to do in demonstration of the fruit of the Spirit within us. Yet, make certain to get the horse before the cart and not vice versa which is so commonly the problem in far to many congregations! Verse seven challenges us to consider how we shall live before the Lord in His Spirit. "But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers."

It is this sense of living as if the Lord is coming this afternoon that the Church has lost. I once knew of a young lady who married early in order to accomplish the right relationship for her expected family. She and her husband both worked part-time jobs and finished High School. Her mother who wanted to encourage them in having made the right and best choices continually helped out by cooking and cleaning by slipping in unannounced and arranging the new household the way she wanted. One day the young lady looked exceptionally tired and I asked her what the problem was. She said she was overworked keeping the house ready for mother's inspection at any moment. Things that could have been left for later always had to be done immediately or the items cleaned up would be stored in a place she couldn't find.

Like my desk at school, the mess on the surface looks like it is unorganized, yet I can tell at a glance if anyone has been sorting through my papers. if I kept things in neat little files and put away in drawers - I would not be able to tell if someone were going through my papers. Of course, all the important stuff is kept on computer disks and not left lying about. Once when I thought someone was going through may old tests, I changed the order of the answers on the one I was about to give and left the old one in the mess. Sure enough, I was able to identify the people who benefited from the apparent theft! They had all the wrong answers in all of the right places! I guess the point I am trying to make is that the worldly mess that we view on a regular basis is still ordered for a purpose of serving the intent of the Creator. He knows where He has left us in that mess and what He intends for us to do. For that reason we watch what we say and do because everything we do say and do may be done for His glory!

Therefore verses nine through eleven indicate specifically how shall we then live! There are three essentials here:

• 1. Love one another.
• 2. Show hospitality.
• 3. Use the gifts that each has received for the upbuilding of Christ's Kingdom.

To vague some may argue, just tell me how to get to heaven - someone once argued! Be specific in the fundamentals of earning a way into grace and heaven! You know that tension in everyone's life can really get exasperating now and then. Every time we get settled in our habits and believe that our actions must truly demonstrate our affections - we are too comfortable and not striving according to the Spirit. The key measure of our life activities are to be found in the challenge of verse eleven: "in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen."

Being at ease in Zion and not thinking about what we do and why we do it is the lazy man's way serve the Lord God of heaven and earth. For example, Tithing and giving generously are commended by Scripture and encouraged by God's saints in every era of the church's history. However, the habit, once established ought never to be taken lightly. The spirit of the gift is always more important than the gift itself. Please understand I do thank you all for your generosity, but when you write your checks think about all the great things the Lord has done to you and for you so that your gifts may be more joyfully given.

In the Old Covenant Church, the farming families had to drive or lead their calves, lambs or goat kids all the way to the temple, sometimes for many many miles. That is why in later Israel, you could purchase a lamb at the temple and enjoy the labor of those who provided the service. In the same way, catching or caring for the doves or small birds used for offerings was also a chore - again simplified by merchants observable enough to take advantage of lazy believers.

The market economy that we now enjoy not only hides the bloodshed behind every meat product that we purchase, but also much of the really hard labor that earlier generations understood as necessary for establishing the cost of their gifts to the Lord. So again, as you give - think not only about the things that the Lord has done for you but of the suffering and labor that allows you to give back to Him. Did you have a bad situation at work - where you really earned your pay? Know that your suffering in that situation is similar in some small respect to the suffering done by Christ. And even as His greater suffering has accomplished so much more, so your ongoing suffering and the wages you receive for that may likewise serve the Lord you love, cherish and honor with your gifts. The Lord, through the revelation of Scripture only asks for ten per cent, He gave a hundred per cent on the cross! And only in some historic times of great persecution are the elect of every generation expected to do likewise and die for the faith once given to the saints. Verses twelve and thirteen acknowledges this fact and encourage us to work through worldly challenges even as Christ prayed through the evening in the Garden and continued to recite Scripture and pray on the cross.

Verse fourteen returns us to the theme of this passage to show us that when we suffer in the world for our Lord Jesus Christ, we are blessed because in that suffering the Lord is glorified. The world however, which causes the suffering is blasphemed because they condemn that which is good and noble and of the Lord.

Verse fifteen cautions us in our actions done in the world. There are certain crimes of which a Christian ought not to be found guilty after they have been saved. "Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters." That pretty well covers our sinful options, doesn't it! Verses sixteen through eighteen again return to the them of this chapter, that "if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter." We all do have crosses to bear, whether they be physical, emotional or spiritual.

Certainly, we can let others share in upholding us in prayer, but we should always be careful that we do not selfishly transfer the burden from ourselves to others. When Sherry was going through the hospital tests a few weeks ago. One of her room mates could not leave the buzzer alone. Hardly fifteen or twenty minutes would pass before she summoned for help of one kind or another. After we were released and gone, I observed that the other lady was a very high maintenance patient. There are also within the Christian faith - high maintenance Christians who would burden the church unnecessarily with their cares. This is not the case here and now in Christ Covenant. However, there was a three year period within the life of our congregation when we had three high maintenance families for whom everything done was never enough. Two of them moved out of state and another far enough out of town that we have not heard from them in almost a decade.

As we look at the final verses we note the Apostle charges us that "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?" A few years ago Rev Billy Graham noted on several high profile evangelist scandals that God was only cleaning house. And so may the Spirit continue to cleanse the church of those who would cause scandal to the precious Name of Christ. For if the Lord does not spare His own of affliction for sins in this life, how much more will He condemn those who "do not obey the gospel of God?"

We suffer a little in this life so as to attain by grace the eternity of salvation in Him. Verse eighteen repeats the admonition given to the Old Covenant saints in Proverbs 11:31 "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" Did you catch that revelation "scarcely saved" or hardly saved as another translation has it! That admonition is to give us an obligation to not only think about our saving relationship by grace but to gain a greater appreciation of the cost of our salvation even as we gather today around the communion table to perceive the gravity of our sinful condition which cost the very life of the Lamb of God who only takes away the sins of the world.

Therefore, Peter ends this section, "Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator." Whatever difficult task the Lord has or will call you to do, we are to do it as to the Lord, there are many cares, many small troubles that test and try our almost daily. Giving them over to the Lord gives them the ministry of His love, doing and believing all in and under the love of the Son and the mercy of the Father through the encouragement of the Spirit - this is how we should then live! May you be willing to accept the high calling of living in the Spirit even as you grow in His grace and the fellowship of Christ's Church. Amen.