Please turn in your Bibles to 1 Peter 4, verses 12 and following. Beloved, do not think it strange 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. Father God, we thank you for this scripture. We thank you for the whole book. What an incredible book you have given to voice the church up during times of persecution. And I pray that as I give exposition to this scripture, that you would guide my lips, that you would enable me not to in any way defame Your Word or misspeak it, and help us all, Father, to grow to appreciate this portion of Your holy Scriptures. We love You and we bless You in Jesus' name, amen. When I have asked friends in China and India and other repressed countries what their favorite book of the Bible is, frequently it is 1 Peter. I think it's one of the most common answers that I have gotten from them. They have said when they read this book, they realize that God knows what they are going through. He cares for them in the midst of their troubles. He identifies with them and enters into their suffering and enables them to find joy in their suffering. And so frequently I find in persecuted countries, people will memorize this entire book. meditate deeply on it. By the way, the Psalms are another favorite answer. That's probably the second most common answer that people give, and exactly for the same reasons, is because both of these books give a full theology of suffering, a very practical theology of suffering. And I've had many people in these countries tell me that they are astonished that the West, the Western church, does not have a theology of suffering. They can't believe it. And I had one pastor tell me that the churches in China are actually praying that we would experience suffering, because they are worried about us. They are worried about the downward slope, and they think persecution is needed to purify the church in America. So it may very well be that the Lord is answering their prayers. Very interesting perspective on life. In any case, this is a book that gives us a comprehensive theology of suffering. And I wish I could dive straight into that theology, but I do need to clear up three controversies over this book, because depending on your view, it's going to change your presuppositions, will change your interpretation of the book. So I can't go over this. I got to really spend some time on these controversies. And the three controversies are this. What is the date of the book? what is the audience to which Peter is writing, and where did he write this book from? If you understand those three things, it really opens up the book in a whole new way. So we're gonna spend a fair bit of time trying to deal with this because your study Bibles are gonna lead you astray, at least if you have newer study Bibles on this. 1 Peter 5.13, we're gonna take these three in reverse order. Gonna look first of all at where it was written. 1 Peter 5.13, says, she who is in Babylon elect together with you, greets you, and so does Mark my son. So it appears that Peter is writing this from a city that he calls Babylon. And if we're to take the grammatical clues in the text correctly, we're not going to see that she is referring to a church. Just like Mark, it is some literal woman that is there with Peter. Now, here's the problem. The literal city of Babylon had long ago ceased to exist. So what is he talking about when he speaks of the city of Babylon? And there are basically, if you do a review of probably close to 100 commentaries out there, there are basically four different theories. The first theory that people come up with is that there was a little, tiny Roman military outpost near the city of Cairo. in Egypt, old Cairo, and they think, well, maybe somehow Peter got to that little outpost. A second theory is that maybe it is the literal city of Babylon that laid in ruins. Peter just, along with these other people, he just fled there, you know, to get away from all of the persecution. The third theory is that this is a symbol and that this symbol applies to the first century city of Rome. And the fourth theory, which I happen to agree with, also says it's a symbol, but it's a symbol of the first century city of Jerusalem. Now the first interpretation I think has been adequately debunked by most scholars. Why on earth would Peter And whoever this woman is, and Mark, and Salvanus, be in a tiny little military outpost, almost an unknown outpost, near the city of Cairo in Egypt. And there's really no evidence that this is the case. By the way, it's not very widely, it would not have been a widely known name. And there's absolutely no evidence that either Peter or Christians resided there. The second interpretation is also impossible. As the original Babylon had been reduced to rubble long before Peter, no one lived there, and Peter was not the type of person to escape into nothingness, to escape from persecution. He had shown over and over he was willing to face persecution for the sake of the church. For sure he would not be going to where no people were. The third option is a possibility, and it's actually the majority view nowadays. If you look in your study Bibles, you will probably see that they say that Babylon is a symbol for the city of Rome. And it is true that there is some post-AD 70 evidence that at least a couple of Jews referred to Rome as being Babylon precisely because Rome had conquered Jerusalem just like Babylon had previously conquered Jerusalem, so they said it's like a second Babylon. But there is zero evidence of Rome ever being considered to be Babylon prior to AD 70, and this was written prior to AD 70, and Jerusalem had not yet been destroyed. There's actually a number of evidences I won't get into as to why Rome is not the right theory, but it is a respectable theory, and I put into the bulletin outline, you know, it could be this or it could be the fourth possibility. It is my contention and the contention of a growing list of scholars that the name Babylon was used by Peter as a symbol of Jerusalem that was under imminent judgment. And let's look at the evidence. First of all, if you want 22 reasons that I'm not going to get into, In my study of the book of Revelation, I give 22 points of identity between the great city of Jerusalem of that book and the great city Babylon in that book. Those two are synonymous throughout the book. The phrase the great city always refers to the same thing. So that's just one of the 22 points. Revelation 11 verse 8 The first reference to that phrase in the book defines what it means, and it says about the last two prophets, and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified. So he clearly identifies the great city of Babylon as Jerusalem. So it's being symbolically called Egypt, Sodom, Jerusalem, because all of those were images of a nation or a city that was under the judgment of the Lord, and Israel had become that nation under judgment. Second, 1 Peter treats Jerusalem as Egypt, not just as Babylon, but as Egypt in exactly the same way that the book of Revelation does. Third, Galatians 2.9 says that Peter and John were commissioned by Christ to be apostles to the circumcision, in other words, to the Jews, and Paul was commissioned to be an apostle to the Gentiles. Peter did not abandon his calling that Christ had given to him. He continued to minister to the Jews until the day that he died. And that relates to the second controversy, which I won't deal with right now. Fourth, The book of Acts consistently shows Peter is living in Jerusalem, and even on his trips, he always came back to his home base. Fifth, Acts 12, verse 12 says that both Mark and Mary also had their residence in Jerusalem. They both stayed in the same house. Yes, they went on trips, but they had a home base in Jerusalem. Well, 1 Peter 5, 13 says that Mark was with Peter, and some well-known woman connected with Mark. Well, Acts says both lived in the same house. If Mary's house was in Jerusalem in AD 65, and if Mark lived with Mary, this is an added proof that Babylon may indeed be a symbol of Jerusalem under imminent judgment. Fifth, Galatians connects Peter, James, and John with Jerusalem and contrasts their commission as being to the Jews, Paul's to the Gentiles. And there's a whole bunch of stuff I could say on that, I'm gonna skip over. Sixth, in 1 Peter 1.1, Peter writes to those who have been scattered, but Peter himself was not scattered. If he was in Rome, he too would have been one of the scattered Christians. So it implies that he's still in Jerusalem. Seventh, if Peter and Mark were residents of Rome, as many people insist, then why do neither of their names appear in the long list of prominent names in Romans 16, 1 through 16? That is a very major oversight. And if he is not in Rome, then the only other option for a city being symbolically called Babylon would be Jerusalem. either Rome or Jerusalem. And people say, well, don't church fathers say that Babylon was Rome and that he was martyred in Rome? Yeah, there are a couple of church fathers that say that, but there's also church fathers that say that Peter was martyred in Jerusalem. So the evidence from the church fathers is not conclusive. We need to look to the scriptures for this, and I think the scriptures definitely favor Jerusalem. Eighth, if, as in Revelation, these scattered Jewish Christians were being persecuted by the Jews, and if this was written around the same time that Revelation was, then it makes sense that the apostle to the Jews would speak of their persecutors as being the leadership of Israel, and as being a city doomed to judgment, just as Babylon was." So really it was a word of encouragement. So even though I cannot be dogmatic on this, I believe that Peter is using the symbol of Babylon in exactly the same way that the Apostle John did. Almost everybody agrees that the name Babylon is a symbolic name. So you've got two options, Rome or Jerusalem. I think the evidence favors Jerusalem. Now that brings me to the second controversy with this book. Commentaries and study Bibles insist that 1 and 2 Peter were written to Gentiles and not to Jews, and that this exclusively Gentile church is called Israel. Now, they use this to teach what they refer to as replacement theology or supersessionism, that the church replaced Israel. I disagree. The church did not replace Israel. The church was Israel. They say, well, what difference does that? No, there's quite a huge difference between those two statements. The church started with a remnant of Israel in Acts 1 through 2, grew into a huge church composed 100% of Jews from every tribe. And only later did Gentiles begin to be grafted into Israel. And the point is that God has not had two bodies, one being Israel, the other being the church. He has always had one body, one olive tree, one people of God, one vineyard, one kingdom. Now here's the irony. Both dispensationalism and its polar opposite, replacement theology, assume that God has had two bodies, two peoples, Israel and the church. And we say, no, God's always had one. The church emerged from Israel. It was a remnant of Israel, much like happened at the Babylonian exile. And so to summarize, it's my view that Peter was writing from Jerusalem, I agree with some early church fathers who state that Peter died in Jerusalem, not in Rome. He was not the first Pope of Rome, as Roman Catholics claim. And I agree that Peter's charge continued to win Jews to Christ until his death. Those who were scattered were largely Jewish Christians. Here are some clues that Peter was writing to Jewish Christians and not to an exclusively Gentile audience. It will go in the order of the book. Clue 1, chapter 1, verse 1 says, to the pilgrims of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Now the Greek word for pilgrim is parapidemos, and it's a word defined by the dictionary as a person who has left his homeland and is now in another nation where he is not a citizen of that nation. So if they are pilgrims in Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, they're not Galatians. They're not Cappadocians, et cetera. They are from somewhere else. Clue two, the same verse refers to them as the dispersion, a term that is exclusively used of Jewish exiles elsewhere in the ancient literature. It is the Greek word diasporas. Clue three, chapter one, verse 12 says that these Christians had the Holy Spirit poured out upon them at Pentecost. Well, who was at Pentecost? There weren't any Gentiles there. They were Jews from every nation under heaven, it says. Actually, it lists exactly the same countries that were here. So the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Jews who were coming to their annual festival of Pentecost. And clue four. Chapter 1 verse 18 says that they had, quote, aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers. That's parallel to Paul writing about the aimless traditions of the Jewish fathers. Clue 5. Chapter 2 verses 5 through 10 may at first seem like, yes, the audience is Gentile here because it says they were once not God's people. Now they are God's people. But when you dig into it, you realize actually it's a slam dunk argument that it's a Jewish audience. And let me explain that. This is actually a quote from Hosea chapter one, verses six through seven, which says to the Jews of his day, it's clearly a Jewish context. You are low army for you are not my people and I will not be your God. Hosea says to the Jews that if they do not have faith in God, then they're not counted as his people. So in terms of the original intent of Hosea, which was explicitly said to Jews, these have to have been Jews who became Christians. A Gentile audience absolutely does not fit Hosea 1, 6 through 7. Clue 6, chapter 2, verse 11 refers to them as sojourners and pilgrims. Now, while that could refer to a spiritual condition, It is used elsewhere in the New Testament to refer to the Jews that were scattered by persecution. For example, chapter 8, identical language to Acts chapter 8. Clue 7, chapter 2, verse 12 commands them to have, be having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles. Well, that implies that the Gentiles are a different group than the people that he's talking to. Now it's true, Peter could be using the term Gentiles just as a synonym for unbelievers, non-church people. But that is assuming what needs to be proved. When the Bible uses the term Gentiles elsewhere to distinguish Jews from the nations, and nations is another way you could translate Gentiles, then it's much simpler to assume it has the same definition here. And obviously when a Gentile got converted and he joined the church, he was treated by God as being a part of Israel. just like they would have been in the Old Testament. But it's Israel they're joining, not non-Israel. Clue eight, chapter two, verse 25, speaks of them as sheep having gone astray, not as goats, and they have returned to the shepherd rather than coming to the shepherd for the first time. Well, that does not fit Gentiles who never were under the shepherd. It fits much better, much more, it's not conclusive, but it's much more naturally speaking of Jews who came back to the faith. Clue 9. While chapter 4 verse 3 is used as a slam-dunk argument of a Gentile audience, it actually speaks against it being a Gentile audience when you dig a bit deeper. and a lot of it is based on how you translate it, but even the way the New King James mistranslates it, it still does not necessitate a Gentile audience. It says, for we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles when we walked in lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. Notice that Peter uses the word we. We, Peter was not a Gentile. If he uses the word we, it includes Peter. So if that verse proves that the audience was Gentile, it proves that Peter was Gentile. And then based on this translation, it means all of them were involved in these abominable perversions, sexual perversion, drunkenness, idolatry, something that is absolutely not true of Peter. But even there, the Gentiles are spoken of as being different than them, and that's reinforced in verse four. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. So the they refers to the Gentiles, and again, they're distinguished from his audience. Now let me read the same two verses from the ESV and Pickering's translation. There's a number of translations, I think, get it right here. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this, they're surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery and they malign you." So it doesn't say that they had engaged in these things. It's doubtful that Peter did. Either way, Peter is not a Gentile. Now, I won't bore you with any more evidence, but I wanted you to see it because almost everywhere you turn, you see people nowadays assuming these are Gentile audience. So I think the truth is somewhere in between the extremes of dispensationalism on the one end and amillennial replacement theology on the other end. Yes, the church is Israel. Yes, Gentile Christians are grafted into Israel. But the evidence seems to point to the fact that Peter is writing to a predominantly Jewish audience that had been driven out of Jerusalem. He knew these people. Peter determined to stay in Jerusalem, and he was martyred shortly after he wrote 2 Peter. So 1 Peter is written in AD 65, late AD 65. 2 Peter was written a few months later, just before the book of Revelation was written in very early AD 66. Rome had authorized Jews to hunt down Christians to destroy the church, and nothing but a tiny remnant was left in the area of Palestine. And the bulk of the church in Israel had been scattered to the winds. And even there, they faced enormous persecution from both the Jews and the Gentiles, persecution that we, I think, fairly well documented in our study of Revelation. So this book was written to help any Christians, certainly Christians in the first century, but any Christians who face persecution, how to do it in a godly way. And I'm gonna give a whirlwind overview of the book now. I'll spend a little bit more time on the introduction. As usual, Introductions are never throwaway comments of the Bible. Peter starts by identifying himself as Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, later on, he's going to say, hey, I'm a model of what it means to be a fellow elder as well. But here he wants them to know that this book came straight from Jesus. An apostle could not speak on his own. He had to speak what Jesus spoke, which means what? Jesus, if this book cares about them, Jesus cares about their suffering. But it's especially in the next two verses that the readers will find comfort. Though the Jews and the Gentiles hate them and have been persecuting them and treating them as the offscouring of the earth, Peter walks them through the three identities that they have. First identity is their social identity. They are seen as pilgrims. Or as the margin says, sojourners. I mean, they're aliens like Abraham of old. They were pilgrims who really didn't belong anywhere. They had been kicked out of Israel, but they were not accepted in the Cappadocia and Bithynia and the other nations that they went to. They were not like they were like Abraham's generation. Eventually, they would be like Joshua's generation and conquer the land. because the meek will inherit the earth, right? There's a time when nations will be Christianized, in which case we won't be pilgrims anymore because we will own the land. But until that happens, we're like Abraham, we're like the fathers who had not yet inherited the land that had been promised to them. Second comes their political identity. They are called the dispersion. Now it's a technical word for Jews that have been dispossessed by political exile. Like Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, they've been dispersed among the Gentiles, but hey, that means They have the opportunity, like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, to win the Gentiles to a saving knowledge of the Lord. And it teaches us how we can thrive as pilgrims wherever God has planted us, take advantage of that situation. Their third identity is their spiritual identity. In verse two, they're called the elect or the chosen of God. The world has rejected them. But what counts is that God has accepted them. You do belong. You belong to God. The world hates them, but they are said in the next words to be elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Now, the word foreknowledge does not just mean that God has a plan. He does have a plan for all of us. But it's the same word that's used for knowing your wife. It's sometimes translated as God foreloved. us. So, basically what that means is they may feel like orphans, but they are loved with an eternal love by the true Father. The next comfort is that even though the world rejects them, the Holy Spirit has set them apart. He has sanctified them to Himself. Now, sanctification is the exact opposite of rejection. It's a great word to meditate upon when you feel lonely and rejected. God has sanctified you to himself. He has pulled you to himself. Next, though they are treated like dirt, Christ cleanses them with his precious blood. He treats them as clean, attractive, lovely. And so each word in the introduction would have been incredibly comforting to these persecuted exiles. And I would encourage you, if we start facing persecution in the next year or two, this is a book, every word of which, which we can't go through every word, obviously, but every word of which has these kinds of applications that can be incredibly encouraging. Let's now give a high-level overview of the book. In verses 3 through 12, Peter basically says that though they don't know what their future will hold with regard to the world, they can bank on the fact that they have a future that is absolutely certain. Verse 3 says they have a living hope. Verse 4 says that they have an inheritance that can't be spoiled or taken away. It's reserved in heaven for them. Verse 5 says they're being kept by the very power of God for a deliverance that is about to be revealed in the last time. And it was the last time for them. Time was running out for Israel, for Nero. The great wrath was about to be poured out upon the empire. to vindicate God's elect. But nothing was wasted in this persecution. Things were not out of control. God allowed it to purify the church. He says in verses 6 through 9, In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, Though it is tested by faith, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls." So the persecutors could kill the body, but they could not kill the soul. And Christ was about to come to render judgment upon Jew and Gentile alike. He was not an absentee landlord. He was the God of an incredible salvation that would begin to take over the world. But the point of the whole section is that knowing God's future for us in heaven can help any of us face persecution with confidence and even with rejoicing. And actually, the more you meditate on the book as a whole, the more likely you are to be pulled out of despair and negative emotions and into the fruit of the Spirit. The next major section, chapter one, verse 13, through chapter two, verse 10, shows how suffering cannot rob us of what is important. The overarching lesson of this is fantastic as well. I've put it in your outlines. It's in the context of suffering that the supernatural character of our new life really shines through. So in some ways, 1 Peter is pointing to the same thing that the Sermon on the Mount was pointing to, that it's in the dark times that the light of God's supernatural grace really shines through. And let me just give you a few hints. First thing that really stands out in relief against the blackness of the times is that these Christians did not lose hope. Okay, they evidenced the supernatural because they had hope when everything around them seemed hopeless, and that's remarkable. He told them in verse 13, rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you in the revelation of Jesus Christ. So grace is given to us at the beginning of our Christian life, and actually you can go back into eternity, but the beginning of our Christian life, it undergirds our Christian life, it takes us all the way to glory. Nothing can rob them of their hope of heaven and eternal joy unless they allow themselves to be robbed of their hope. And that's why he starts that verse actually saying, therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober. Girding up the loins is an image taken from warfare. You know, when soldiers, they wore these long robes down to their feet. They'd get all tangled up in their robes if they didn't gird up their loins, so they would put it up above their knees and tie it together, look sort of like shorts, so that they could run, they could fight without getting tangled up. Now, applying this to our mind, it's saying that we need to be prepared in our minds to fight so that our hope is not robbed from us. That's basically what he is saying. The supernatural needs to sustain us. Now, I've seen two opposite reactions that Christians have had to persecution. despair, on the one hand, and confident hope. And it really depends on where your focus is at. The next thing that really makes two Christians, true Christians, stand out as different, these people did not conform to the world. They sought to be holy and this holiness proved that they were children. Why? Because children take on the characteristics of their parents. If we're truly children of God, we're going to take on the characteristics of God's holiness. Not even persecution can rob them of the Father's likeness. Unless, of course, we're lacking faith and we allow it to be robbed. So verses 14 through 16 say, As obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts as in your ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct because it is written, be holy for I am holy. Now just as a side note, that's true of this section here, persecution exposed the tares that were in the church. And Jesus and the apostles warned that this would happen. They said that there would be a false church and a true church that would emerge side by side. At the very time that true Christians are growing, the wicked church is going to be growing in wickedness. And Peter's next epistle will actually draw that out rather clearly. And the point is that God often uses persecution to purify the church and to expose the false believers. He did this in Ethiopia. Persecution just made the church grow like crazy because it was purified. This is what he did under Mao Zedong in China. And he's actually probably doing there now, and he's probably going to be doing here soon in America. It's good to be reminded of this benefit of suffering, that Christ-likeness shines during the dark times. Nothing is wasted in God's economy. Yet another evidence that these Christians were born from above and have something supernatural about them is that they kept growing in the fear of God, whereas false believers kept growing in the fear of man. All around them, people were being rounded up and interrogated to see if they were Christians. Well, this produced fear and denial in the false believers, and it produced the exact opposite, fear of God. The more that got taken away, the more they realized that God can't be taken away. It made believers be cast upon the Lord. Let me read 17 through 21. And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear, knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, He indeed was ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, who through Him believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God." So fear of God makes us focus upon God and His grace, not on us and our works. And the more things that are taken away from us by our persecutors, the more we begin to value God and his redemption and his gift of Jesus. Those are riches no one can take away. The next thing that Peter says was highlighted in these Christians was the supernatural love that they had for each other. Fake love would fail them under persecution, what he calls here sincere God-given love would not. Fake love would leave them open to compromise. Sincere love would purify their hearts. Fake love would stop loving when the cost was too high. Sincere love would endure through every trial. So again, persecution makes the supernatural shine forth in God's people and exposes the counterfeit in others. I'll just go ahead and read verses 22 through 25. Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth of the spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. Because all flesh is as grass and all the glory of man is the flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you. So Peter is basically saying it's inconceivable that those who are truly born of God will not love the brethren. And the division between fake love and true love becomes more and more pronounced the more intense the suffering. I think it was about two weeks ago, Kathy and I watched a movie biography of Richard Wurmbrandt. It's titled Tortured for Christ, and in that movie you saw a sifting between false believers and true believers, but you also saw the evidence of supernatural love even for Richard's enemies coming through. I remember one of the scenes, he had been tortured and tortured and tortured. They were trying to break him and to get him to quit praying. And the guard comes to the door, looks in, and he's so frustrated that Richard is praying again. He goes in, he's yelling at them, don't you ever learn? Why are you praying? And what are you praying for? And Richard says, I was just praying for you. And the guard was just stunned that a persecuted, tortured Christian would be praying for his torturer that the love of God would break through and conquer his heart. So anyway, the supernatural, it shines through in so many ways under persecution. I was reading the first century description of the torture and persecution of Christians under Nero. This was written by Tacitus, he's a total pagan, and he was just mystified why Christians wouldn't, it's so easy, just say you don't believe in Christ and then you'll live. He didn't understand why they would be so stuck on this Christianity and he felt sorry for them. But other pagans were surprised that the Christians didn't feel sorry for themselves. In the midst of their persecution, they had something no one else had. They saw themselves as privileged to be Christians, privileged to suffer for Christ. What on earth possessed them? That was the thought of the pagans. Well, the Holy Spirit possessed them, right? And filled them with joy. In chapter 2, verses 1 through 10, we see the incredible privileges that we really do have. Look at all of the images of our identity and our privilege. First, we're children of God. Chapter two, verses one through three. Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious. In other words, if you are a true believer. When you know that you are God's child, You are more interested in His favor than the world's favor. But how do you know that you are Christians? Well, one of the evidences is you're going to hunger for the Bible, just like newborn babes hunger for the milk of their mother. What can get in the way of that hunger? Well, the verse indicates that malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy can spoil our spiritual appetite, just like sickness can spoil a baby's appetite. So obviously we need to get rid of those poisons out of our lives, but the point here is It is a sustaining encouragement to know we are children of the living God. Second, by suffering, we are identifying with Jesus. Verse 4 says, coming to Him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. The fact that Jesus was rejected by men does not mean that God had rejected him. In fact, it says here, no, he was chosen by God. He was precious to God even during his suffering. Well, simple logic tells us we should not think we're hated by God or rejected by God when we suffer persecution. That's just a simple logical conclusion. Peter said, no, you are chosen. You are precious when you are privileged to suffer like Christ did. And so really that verse removes the doubts that Satan might throw into the minds of people who are persecuted. Has God abandoned me? Does he hate me? Why is he allowing me to go through this? The whole book is a tightly knit argument to help Christians stand up during persecution. In one sermon it's hard to show how it's tightly knit together, but it's a very tightly knit together argument. Next, Peter amplifies on Christ being a stone and us being living stones to make the point that though the world rejected the cornerstone, Jesus, And though they rejected the building stones, which is us, they can't stop God building His temple. And there's comfort in knowing that if they persecuted Jesus, the cornerstone, they're going to persecute us, the living stones. Verses 4-8. coming to him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious. You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Therefore, it is also contained in the scripture. Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be put to shame. Therefore to you who believe he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, the stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone and a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. They stumble being disobedient to the word to which they were also appointed. Well, this helps Christians to have really, there's a lot in there, but it helps us at least to have a Christ-centered perspective on persecution. It's just a tiny part of the massive theology of suffering that the modern church desperately needs to know. The last thing that shines through so strongly in this section is that the church really was the Israel of God. Why does he bother to make that argument? Well, who were their persecutors? It was primarily the Jews. And a lot of preachers don't get that connection. But in our Revelation study, we saw that even Nero's persecution was egged on by his Jewish wife and by all of the Jewish advisors that had come in to pack out his court. And he had entered into a seven-year covenant with the leaders in Israel to exterminate the church. That was the whole point of that covenant. And so even his persecution was primarily a Jewish persecution. So since they're being persecuted by the false Israel, Peter comforts them by assuring them, hey, God considers you to be the true Israel. This makes Hosea and Ezekiel and so many other books open up and to be applicable to them. The church is Israel. And in verses 9 through 10, God defines them as the new Israel by applying images that were exclusively used of Israel in the Old Testament to the church. By quoting from the passage from Hosea that showed the church to be the remnant of Israel and false Israel to not be God's people at all. 1 Peter 2 9-10 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, beautiful images, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. So all of this, we can't get into the details, but all of it shows how persecution reveals the false church to be false, the true church to be true, to be characterized by God's supernatural grace. Persecution is not an evidence of abandonment, quite the opposite. Now moving on to the next section, Peter shows another way to make the kingdom shine and win others to Christ as a result of our true testimony. This whole section deals with the advancement of the kingdom through our testimony. Persecution cannot stop the advancement of the church. He says we have the greatest opportunity to give a testimony when? During the dark times of suffering. Those are the times that the church grows like crazy. As Christ showed in the Sermon on the Mount, it's in situations where you can do what no unbeliever can do, that they begin to covet what you have. They wish they had your peace, your love, your boldness, your patience, all of the other graces, but they can only have it if they bow their knee before Jesus, if they're filled with the Holy Spirit. So let's look at these amazing testimonies that show this. Verses 11 through 12 speak of being a testimony to the world. Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. So God wants us to showcase grace when we are persecuted, not compromised. Peter then expands upon this in verses 13 through 17 by showing, hey, we can be a tremendous testimony to the state, or we can be a lousy testimony to the state. It all depends on whether we handle persecution in our own fleshly strength or with God's supernatural strength. Therefore, submit yourselves 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. Then in verses 18 through 25, he says, we could be a tremendous testimony to employers who mistreat us as Christians. Actually, we're beginning to see employer persecution of Christians all over the states. It's one of the big things that Alliance Defending Freedom has been dealing with. By the way, when I read this passage, this is a very convicting passage to people who grumble too much about their employers. They're acting as a lousy testimony. So I'm going to read it without comment, but just ask that the Holy Spirit would showcase, am I giving a good testimony when my employer is treating me rottenly, treating me poorly? Beginning at verse 18. Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. For this is commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. For what credit is it? If you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently. But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example that you should follow his steps. Who committed no sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth. Who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. Then in chapter 3 verses 1 through 6, Peter calls Christian wives to be a testimony to their unbelieving husbands. The whole section is dealing with testimony. It's a tough role to be in, yet Peter indicates God's grace can enable them to showcase the character of Christ even in these less-than-ideal marriages. Let's read chapter 3 verses 1 through 6. Wives, likewise, be submissive to your own husbands, that even if some do not obey the word, They, without a word, may be won by the conduct of their wives when they observe your chaste conduct accompanied by fear. Do not let your adornment be merely outward, arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel. Rather, let it be the hidden person of the heart with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. For in this manner, in former times, the holy women who trusted in God also adorned themselves, being submissive to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him Lord, whose daughters you are if you do good and are not afraid with any terror." Now even though this passage has been abused by hyper-patriarchalists, I would point out that it actually stands against that position on many counts. You don't have to showcase God's grace to blindly submit in a servile way. All you have to do is give up. just feel hopeless, right? What Peter is calling for is a strong submission, so strong that it requires supernatural grace that is a testimony. And let me illustrate the supernatural just by looking at six ways that the hyper-patriarchalist interpretation is wrong. First, the likewise in verse one compares the submission of the wife to the submissions in the previous chapters. Well, the previous chapter allowed for a John and a Peter to tell the civil government, look, you can't command me to do what God has forbidden or forbid me to do what God has commanded. Now, they did it in a gracious way, but there was some allowable disobedience. It also compares it to Jesus who gives submission to the Father in all things. So it's a supernaturally wrought submission that would actually blow the unbelieving husband away. It's not just passively going along to get along. Second, Peter addressed the wives, not the husbands. Well, this means that the wives had the ability to have at least some independent thinking. After all, this woman has completely rejected her husband's worldview, pagan worldview, and embraced the Bible, right? That does not sound at all to me like the wife takes the husband's voice as being the voice of Christ, as hyper-patriarchalists say. She has not taken his voice to be the voice. She has rejected his voice and embraced the voice of Christ in the Bible. Yet her independent thinking is still consistent with the radical submission to her husband. And it showcases the supernatural because, hey, she submits even though she's smarter than her husband, at least in this point here. So it's not turning off the mind. It's precisely because her mind is so captured by Christ, she's a testimony that can win him to the gospel. How? Through godly submission. And that's the third difference. Her submission did not mean she should not try to win her husband to a different viewpoint than he currently has. Such a viewpoint is really misunderstanding the text. Verse one says that even if some do not obey the word, they without a word may be won by the conduct of their wives. Peter wants them to win their husbands to the gospel. Now, to be sure, not with nagging. But they did share the gospel, otherwise you can't say they disobeyed the word. They heard the word from their wives, and the husbands rejected it, so they stopped speaking about it. They stopped nagging. You see, nagging is trusting yourself. It's not trusting God. Nagging is an evidence of lack of faith. Fourth, their submission did not mean going along with sin since verse 2 commanded these believing wives to maintain chaste conduct. And it takes the Holy Spirit's inward wisdom to be able to navigate those kind of tough situations and vacillations of these husbands' desires. and still engage in such submission. Fifth, submission does not mean being fearful or timid, according to verse six. No, they have the boldness of the Holy Spirit. I mean, that's what makes the submission such a testimony. It's totally different than the fearful, servile submission that the pagan wives sometimes had. And finally, their submission did not do away with equality in Christ according to verse 7. Again, that's what makes this submission so remarkable. I can't get into the details of it. He moves on to encourage husbands to be a godly testimony to their wives in verse 7. Yes, you husbands are either a lousy testimony or you are a wonderful testimony to God's grace based on whether you are leading in the way God wants you to lead or you're leading in a pagan way. Okay, every word in that verse could have a similar exposition that shows it's not just any kind of leadership. This is a gracious leadership wrought by the power of the Holy Spirit that is considerate, understanding, and caring. He then calls them to be a godly testimony to all in verses 8 through 12. Now, I'm going to read these verses, and when you can do the things that are in these verses, you know your life has the supernatural about it, because it's different than what fake Christians can do. It's a grace that enables you to love life, even when others make you suffer. Let me actually start with verse 7, since I didn't read that one. Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife as to the weaker vessel and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered. Finally, all of you, be of one mind, having compassion for one another. Love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For he would love life and see good days. Let him refrain 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 prayers. But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil. Let's move on. The next section shows another way in which we can shine as being quite different from the world. Peter calls upon us to be ready to serve even when we suffer. I mean, who wants to serve the very people that have caused you to suffer? It seems strange to the world, and yet it is an incredible testimony to our persecutors. We can serve them, we can love them, we can try to win them to the gospel, even when they have tortured us. And there are hundreds of beautiful stories of exactly this happening. It's not being overcome by evil, but overcoming evil with good. Just like the preexistent Christ preached through Noah, to the pre-flood people and was a testimony that condemned them to suffer in Hades, and that's the way I interpret verses 18-22, we can have a powerful and confident witness if our conduct matches our words. And I won't read the whole section, but just look at verses 13-17. And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed, and do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you with meekness and fear, having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evil doers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. So they served with a confident apologetics, like Christ did. They also served with a confident conduct. Chapter 4, verses 1 through 6. I remember talking to a Christian who had been in and out of jail a number of times for his faith, and he told me that the first time that he started preaching against the law, he was really nervous about getting caught because he didn't want to get a criminal record. But after he got a criminal record, he had no reputation to protect, and it was easy to preach for Christ. And he didn't worry about what other people thought about him. His reputation was gone. And compromise actually was not much of a temptation either. Boldness for Christ seemed natural. Well, Peter testifies to much the same confidence that persecution gave to these Christians. It made them no longer dependent on man-placing. Chapter 4, verse 1. Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind. For he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, but he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles, when we walked in lewdness, lust, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries. In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. They will give an account to him who was ready to judge the living and the dead. For this reason, the gospel was preached also to those who were dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. Now the last part of this section shows that since the end of their persecutors and of all of Judaism was at hand, they could have a confident ministry. Jewish persecution would not triumph. Christ's kingdom would triumph. He says in verses 7 through 11, but the end of all things is at hand, therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers, and above all things have fervent love for one another, for love will cover a multitude of sins. be hospitable to one another without grumbling as each one has received a gift minister it to one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God if anyone speaks let him speak as the oracles of God if anyone ministers let him do it as with the ability which God supplies that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever amen and now Peter gets to the heart of his sermon He gives them some additional points that will help them to face suffering with joy. It may seem odd to say joy and suffering can mix in the same person, but if you're indwelt by the Holy Spirit, they can. So this is not a grin and bear it Christianity. This is a supernatural Christianity that can experience supernatural joy even in the midst of suffering. And we're much more likely to enter that joy if we put on each of these attitudes and actions. I'll quickly go through them. First thing that helps you to not become bitter over suffering is to expect suffering, okay? Verse 12, beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you as though some strange thing happened to you. I mean, Jesus had promised suffering to those who were righteous. Paul had said, expect suffering if you're gonna be righteous. It was not an unexpected thing. And if you expect to have suffering, you can face it in a godly way. But if you have a name it and claim it prosperity gospel that only expects health wealth and peace If you have faith, then you're going to be disappointed and crushed when those things do not happen You'll be disillusioned and so expect it as a natural outcome of antithesis Second he told them to see christ in their sufferings verses 13 through 14 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. So if Christ and the Holy Spirit are in you, then the demonic world is gonna hate you. You're identified with Christ in the Spirit, right? And that's what Jesus prophesied. If you see Christ in your sufferings, you will be buoyed in the realization that you are not forsaken. I mean, what did Jesus say to Paul before he was converted? Paul was persecuting the church, but Jesus said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? Okay? It helps us to have joy if we realize Christ suffers when we suffer. He identifies with us in our sufferings. So, see Christ in your sufferings. Thirdly, distinguish true persecution from the natural consequences of having bad attitudes. In other words, of being a jerk. Verses 15 through 19. Let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody 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. 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? Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good as to a faithful creator." Suffering because you're a jerk does not have any rewards. But suffering for the sake of Christ has enormous rewards. The early church believed that being a martyr received such rewards that they longed, many of them longed to be martyrs. They asked to be martyrs. And when they weren't martyrs, they felt so disappointed. Now that may be going overboard. I think it is going overboard, right? I don't think we're supposed to just try to be martyrs out there. But they realized, hey, everybody's going to suffer. The wicked are going to suffer for all of eternity. We're going to suffer here on earth. But we're entering into everlasting joy in heaven. But just knowing that helps you to face suffering better. Another thing that can help us face suffering successfully is to not neglect the church, but to be a part of the church's shepherding ministry. that in the early church who tried to be secret believers to avoid membership in the church where they might get caught and they might get in trouble. Now he addresses them in later verses, but in chapter 5 verses 1 through 4, he tells the elders, hey, I don't want you bailing. you are absolutely needed in the ministry of the church, especially during times of suffering. So even though an elder brings extra risks, it's an absolutely essential role. The elders who are among you I exhort, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ and also a partaker of the glory that will be revealed, Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, not by compulsion, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly, nor as being lords over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. Hallelujah. Now there are three more points Peter presses home that will help believers to face persecution successfully. One is to put on humility. And there are many ways you can put on humility, but what he outlines here is a willingness to submit to the elders, to the officers, Christ's representatives in the church. The church was intended to be a hospital to which the persecuted soldiers could repair and find comfort. So verses five through seven says, likewise, you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon him, for he cares for you." The next admonition was to realize that all of this persecution of the Jewish leaders and Romans under Nero was really being driven by the demonic. And it's imperative that we learn how to engage in spiritual warfare, which is one of the themes of our teaching this year. Verses 8 through 9. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. And then the final secret to successfully facing persecution was to do all to the glory of God. This makes sense. If you're doing all to your own glory. and it doesn't happen, you're always gonna be disappointed, you're always gonna be frustrated. But if you're doing all things to God's glory, then persecution cannot rob you of your joy. Only you can let your joy be robbed. Verses 10 through 11 say, but may the God of all grace who called us to his eternal glory, by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you, to him be the glory, and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. And then comes the conclusion. And again, the introductions and the conclusions to any of the New Testament books are not throwaway words. Here it shows that Peter, Silvanus, Mary, if she's the she, there's debate on that, Mark, and others cared very deeply for them and their homelessness. and in their wanderings. By Silvanus, our faithful brother as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. She who is in Babylon, elect together with you, greets you, and so does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen. Brothers and sisters, it is very likely that you will face some degree of persecution in the coming years, and I would just encourage you to hold on to 1 Peter as a gift from God that will sustain you during that persecution. And may God keep each of us faithful and joyful. Amen. Father, we have barely dipped into this book, even though we've spent a long time on it. There's so much more that is in here. We thank You for this gift of Your Word that teaches us how to successfully navigate the deep waters of persecution. And Father, if our nation must face persecution to purify the church, I pray that you would put a mark, even as you did in Ezekiel, upon the foreheads of those who weep and grieve and groan over the sins of this nation, and that you would enable us to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ, more holy. And if we must suffer persecution and pain, may we do it in a way that we grow, that we glorify you, and that we are a godly witness to the world. We desire that your kingdom would grow, that your church would grow in this nation. And so to that end, we pray you would take each one of us as foot soldiers in your kingdom and use us for the advancement of that kingdom. In Jesus' name we pray.