Greetings and welcome to the Beacon Broadcast from Beacon Baptist Church on Kirkpatrick Road in Burlington, North Carolina. The Beacon Broadcast is supported in part by the gifts of faithful listeners. If you'd like to correspond with Pastor Barkman and The Beacon Broadcast, or if you wish to support this radio ministry, write to The Beacon Broadcast, Post Office Box 159, Alamance, NC 27201. The Beacon Broadcast, Post Office Box 159, Alamance, NC 27201. Now with today's message from God's Word, here is Pastor Greg Barkman. we're still dealing with the introduction of Peter's first epistle where he has identified himself as the author Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ and where he has identified the recipients to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia and as we learned in the broadcast yesterday these people These ones to whom Peter addresses this epistle are believers in Jesus Christ who reside in Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. They are Gentile believers, but they are described in terms of the dispersion, the diaspora, which is a term that is used for the Jews who are scattered throughout the world. But Peter takes that term and applies it to Gentile Christians to remind us that if we are saved by the grace of God, and that's the only way to be saved, of course, but if we are saved, we are no longer residents of this world, we are citizens of heaven. We dwell here, but we're pilgrims. We live here, but we are just passing through. And, of course, the implication is, don't drive your stakes down too deep Don't get too comfortable in this world. Don't forget your true status. You are a stranger. You are an alien. You are not a citizen, a native of this country, this nation, wherever you live. The United States of America, for myself. You are a pilgrim. Don't forget that. Don't forget that. Oh my. So many things we could say. So thank you for joining me on this Friday, November 23rd, and thanks for remembering that we are dependent upon the gifts of God's people to continue broadcasting God's Word on this station. Strangers, aliens, interspersed among the native people of this world, we were like that. We were one of them, but now we have been removed, we have been changed, we have been reassigned, we have been given a different identity and a different mission, a different goal in life, a different understanding of reality, and we are headed for something that is entirely different. Don't get too settled down in this world. Now how did these Gentiles, well before I ask that question, I should point out something about the locations that are identified here. To the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia. Now I have just simply flipped to the back of my Bible and found a map. Not all Bibles have maps, but it's a good idea, very helpful when they do. And I found a map of Paul's first and second missionary journeys. I also am looking at one on Paul's third and fourth journeys, and either one will do for my purposes in regard to these locations. And most of these locations I have no difficulty at all identifying on this map of Turkey, of Asia Minor. I find Bithynia up there near the Black Sea. I find Pontus, which is a little bit east of Bithynia, also on the North Shore in the Black Sea. Let's see, what else are we looking at here? Galatia. Well, Galatia is printed on this map about in the middle, a little bit north, but about in the middle. But, of course, I have some questions about that because I know where Paul went in Antioch, and Lystra, and Derbe, and Iconium, and all of those cities are on here as well, and they're further south. And I know that that is identified with Galatia as well. So Galatia is obviously a bigger territory, but it could include those cities to the south. We might call that the southern part of Galatia, which altogether is the middle section of Turkey. Then there's Asia, which is not identified here because that was not a city like these others were. We use that as a term for a whole continent, the continent of Asia, as opposed to Europe. But we also speak of Asia Minor when we're talking about the Turkish Peninsula. But in that day, Asia would have referred only to the western part. of the Turkish Peninsula, of which Ephesus was the most prominent city. So, I would take this to be a reference to Ephesus and to the vicinity around Ephesus, and then there is Bithynia, and that's not on this, oh yeah, there it is, there it is on this map. So we've got them all, Pontus, Bithynia, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia. I didn't read them in the order in which they're found. Now, it's interesting to me that Peter is writing to Christians in that location, in the territories, actually, where the Apostle Paul labored. Does that mean that Peter is horning in on Paul's ministry and Paul's territory? I don't think so. wouldn't be anything wrong with it if he did, and Paul wouldn't consider it horning in. Paul was an apostle, Peter was an apostle, they worked together, there isn't rivalry, there isn't contention between them, but there is some indication that they generally divvied up different territories and concentrated on certain ones and let other people concentrate on other ones. So what is this? Except for Ephesus, which Paul, of course, did minister in, in a very significant way, these other places are beyond the areas where Paul went, at least as far as the record goes in the book of Acts, with, of course, the exception of Galatia, and that depends on what you mean by Galatia. I think we would have to say Paul ministered in southern Galatia, but this, of course, could be writing to those in northern Galatia. closer to Bithynia and Pontus. What does this tell me? Well, it tells me that Peter, though he was considered an apostle primarily to the Jews, Read about that in Galatians chapter 1 and maybe 2, I'll have to go back and look to find it exactly, but there we find that Peter was an apostle to the Jews as Paul was an apostle to the Gentiles. Peter did not minister exclusively to Jews, and we would know that by reading the book of Acts. Who was the first apostle sent to Gentiles? Peter. Paul went later, but Peter was the first apostle sent to Gentiles, remember? That sheet let down upon the roof, and the vision from heaven, and then the knock at the door, and Peter being sent to Cornelius, the Roman centurion, a Gentile, and ministered to him, and then had to defend that action to the church at Jerusalem. That was Peter. So Peter was one who ministered to Gentiles, as well as Jews, he must have had a very effective ministry among Jewish believers, but he must have had a significant ministry among Gentile believers as well. Peter is writing to a portion of the church that he may or may not have visited, he may or may not have actually ministered in this territory. Our first inclination would be to think that he did. Why else was he writing to them? Most of Paul's epistles are written to those that he has ministered to, but not all of them. Paul's Colossian epistle was written to a church that he had never visited and was not responsible for directly, perhaps indirectly, but not directly. His Roman epistle was written to a church where he had never been, It's a church that he would visit later when he was in chains, a church that he wanted to visit, a location that he wanted to visit, and a church that he wanted to visit in the city of Rome for a long time, but he was not allowed to do that. Furthermore, we find that Paul had wanted to go to Bithynia, You can read about this in Acts chapter 16, but was forbidden by the Holy Spirit to go there. He also wanted on that occasion to go to Asia, which I take it to be Ephesus, or that area. and was also forbidden by the Holy Spirit to go there at that time, because at that particular time, God wanted him in Macedonia. And after that, he saw the Macedonian vision and realized that God wanted him to cross the sea, move into European territory, and to minister there. But later, on his way back from that successful mission, he did come to Ephesus, that is Asia, inaugurated a ministry there, went back to Antioch, back to Jerusalem, back to the home territory, spent a little time there, reported to the churches there, and then came back and had his longest ministry in one place in the city of Ephesus. So, why is Peter writing to these people? Well, as I say, he may have ministered there. Maybe, I'm just surmising, Maybe the reason that the Holy Spirit did not allow Paul to go northward to Bithynia and presumably to Pontus, which is in the same general vicinity, is because he was sending somebody else there. Paul couldn't do it all. He couldn't go everywhere. And so Paul needed to be directed to Macedonia, to Europe. and others could be directed to Bithynia and Pontus and northern Galatia. But as for Cappadocia and Asia, that's another story. So why is Peter writing to these believers? Well, the only answer is because God the Holy Spirit directed him to. But from a human standpoint, he obviously had an interest in them, he obviously had a relationship with them. Of what nature it was exactly, we are not told, so we can only speculate. But he obviously had an interest in them, saw a need there, needed to write to them, needed to strengthen them, needed to help them. These are Christians that Paul has not had a significant ministry with, unless possibly we're talking about Ephesus in Asia. But the other places Paul did not go, as far as we know, And Peter did. So Peter had a widespread ministry just like Paul did. We don't know as much about it because Acts doesn't tell us as much about it as it does Paul's ministry, but evidently he did. He was an apostle. He had responsibility for a wide area, a lot of churches, a lot of Christians, a big portion of the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, as did Paul. In other areas, and as I would gather, all of the other apostles in other areas, the gospel is spreading rapidly. If the other ten apostles had responsibility for territory similar to that of Paul and Peter, you can only imagine how far the gospel had already spread and how far it was going to go. Interesting thoughts. Come back on Monday and we'll take it up again then. Until then, Greg Barkman saying good day. May God give you his eternal peace.