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All right, guys, go ahead and
take your Bibles and go to 1 Peter. Back to 1 Peter. And very excited to get back
into our study. Again, we enjoyed something a
little different last week, and it was good to be with the adults
last week. And thank you guys for going
over and engaging with them. That was good. As you're going
back to 1 Peter again, we're excited to be getting back into
our study, and we're looking at the beginning of chapter two.
Beginning of chapter two, we looked down through verse eight
last week of 2 Peter two, one through eight, and we're gonna
pick up in verse nine this evening, and probably work all the way
down through verse 12. Peter is, again, writing to the
elect exiles. These exiles, they have been
dispersed across Asia Minor. Again, as we began our study
through 1 Peter, we noted that these are not just physical exiles. Of course, they were physically
exiled from their homes. They were running for their lives
from persecution, but they're also spiritual exiles, and this
is more significant for sure. And so Peter writes to encourage
them to be faithful to their cause, to keep their eyes on
their heavenly reward, on their eternal salvation, and their
eternal inheritance. Peter reminds them that they
are not citizens of this world or of any earthly kingdom, but
of an eternal kingdom. Again, just as a reminder that
this earth is not their home, this world is not their home,
and so they should not grow attached to all this world offers. In
addition to that, they shouldn't be overwhelmed by the earthly
suffering that they face because this earth is not their home.
They understand that they are just quickly passing through.
Their life is just a vapor. And so they shouldn't be overwhelmed
or overcome by the suffering that they face. They must remain
steadfast. And so in the last several verses
of chapter one, Peter repeatedly admonished the believers that
they must not live in accordance with their former feudal ways. Remember, We saw this in verse
17. If you look at 1 Peter 1, verse
17, I think it is. Peter says, if you call on him
as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds,
conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,
knowing that you were ransomed from the feudal ways inherited
from your forefathers. Again, so Peter is encouraging
the believers. You were bought back from this
former sinful way of life. And so not only have they been
ransomed out of those old ways, but Peter wants the reader to
understand, and he uses the word futile to make this point, living
in sin cannot satisfy. Pursuing your sin does not profit. Many times the world tells us
it does. But to live for Christ, this is the only meaning we have.
Our only meaning can be found in Jesus Christ living for him.
And so to drive home this point, Peter uses the same word as Paul
in Ephesians chapter four. Verses 22 through 24, we looked
at this two weeks ago now. Paul commands the believers to
put off their old way of life. He commands them to instead put
on the new man, to be defined by their new character in Christ. And so in last week's passage,
just looking at verses one through eight of chapter two, we saw
that we as believers, we are God's chosen people. We are elect
in Christ. Peter begins chapter two saying,
put away all malice, all deceit, all hypocrisy and envy and all
slander. Again, Peter begins chapter two
with a strong imperative command, like he has done multiple times
throughout his epistle. You must do this, fill in the
blank. And he gives a command. And so
he says, like newborn infants instead, you should long for
pure spiritual milk that you may grow up into salvation. You
should long to grow in your sanctification. You should long to grow in your
knowledge of who God is and in your relationship with him. Peter
says, as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men, but in
the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves, like living stones,
are being built up as a spiritual house. And so we looked at the
reality two weeks ago as Jesus Christ is God's chosen cornerstone,
God's plan, his means for the redemption of mankind. How are
you chosen? you're chosen by placing your
faith in Jesus Christ, right? That's what Peter clearly says.
And so he'll continue to build off of this context in verses
nine through 12. Peter demonstrates the blessings
that we have as believers for any who do not place their faith
in Jesus. What does Peter say? He is a
stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Peter says at the
end of verse eight, they stumble because they disobey the word
as they were, what? Destined to do. And as we looked
at this, we talked about the nature of sin. They're not destined
to disobey the word. But actually, they're destined
to stumble because of their disobedience to God's Word. Again, indicating
to us, we are sanctified, we are saved by our obedience to
God's Word. Peter tells us that very clearly.
So as you consider all this, again, a little bit more of a
lengthy review of what we looked at two weeks ago, again, just
because of the gap in time between our study. But go ahead and look
down at verse 9 now of chapter 2. verse nine of chapter two. Again, covering a relatively
short span of text this evening, but we'll look at why that is
later on. Peter writes this, but you are
a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his
own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of
him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once
you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you
had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Beloved,
I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions
of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your
conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against
you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God
on the day of visitation. Let's go ahead and pray as we
look at this text, and then we'll get into our message. Let's pray.
Dear God, as we come to your word this evening, we ask for
your grace. We ask for your forgiveness even tonight as we come to your
word and understand just how many ways we fall short of your
commands for our lives as believers, as your followers. God, we ask
for just guidance as we look to your word. We ask that your
Holy Spirit would do a work in us that we would be convicted
of areas that we need to grow this evening. Lord, we thank
you for Jesus Christ and all that he is. We thank you that
in him we are chosen. We are a holy nation, a royal
priesthood. And God, I pray that that would
actually impact the way that we live our lives. That must
impact the way that we live our lives. And so we pray for your
grace as we look at this text this evening. Again, we thank
you for who you are, for all that you have done for us, for
giving us your son and salvation through him. In Jesus' name we
pray, amen. As we look at this text this
evening, I just was considering, have you ever stayed in a room
or a hotel room, perhaps, that was less than sanitary? Maybe the room smelled funny,
or maybe there was kind of visible trash or dirt on the floor, things
that kind of just tipped you off to the fact that maybe the
room hadn't been cleaned the way it should be cleaned. Perhaps
as I'm speaking, you're thinking, yeah, actually, that sounds like
my room. Hopefully that's not the case. But we have probably
all had experiences of temporarily staying in a place that wasn't
very comfortable. And as I think about this, I
think of one time my family and I were on vacation and I have
two sisters and one brother and both my parents, obviously, and
so as we're traveling around. Typically it was me and my younger
brother who were stuck on the pull-out couch of the hotel room
and my parents obviously got a bed and my sisters had to share
a bed and I remember this one hotel room kind of exactly exactly
that what I described it kind of just the the hotel in general
smelled funny as we walked to our room the hotel room kind
of smelled like cigarettes or something funny and so As we
pull out the bed of the couch, underneath the bed, it looked
like somebody had taken like McDonald's french fries and just
dumped them underneath the bed. And so it just kind of gave you
the sense of like, oh, this is not a very clean place to stay,
right? And so as you think about that,
really the only good thing about that experience is we understand
that it is temporary. right? We know that it won't
last. When we stay in a situation like
that, we can take hope in the reality that I don't stay here
forever, and I'm looking forward to not being here. I'm looking
forward to being back in my home, back in my own bed. And throughout
his epistles, Peter repeatedly references the believers as exiles. Again, we notice this from the
very first verses from Peter's introduction. He refers to these
believers as the elect exiles of the dispersion. And he does
this in order to illustrate the temporary nature of this life
and the sufferings that the believers were facing. Instead of focusing
on the negative circumstances that surrounded them, Peter wanted
them to fix their eyes, their attention on the eternal standing
they had in Christ. And so as you consider this,
this is what we all must do. We all should live our lives
this way. And many times for us as believers in America today,
this is very difficult for us to grasp. We do not have the
outside pressure, the outside persecution constantly pressing
in on us that makes us look heavenward and say, I can't wait to not
live here anymore. Many times instead, we have the
opposite attitude. there's kind of this thing that I really wanna
do. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus,
after I get married. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus,
after I learn how to drive a car. Even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus,
after I have a child. And so there are all these life
goals that we have in our minds, and those are things that we
all struggle with. And so this is a very valuable
book for us to study and understand the importance of an eternal
focus. We must be fixing our eyes on
the second coming of Christ and his millennial kingdom that we
as believers will be a part of. That must be our focus. That's
difficult. But as Peter communicates clearly
through the first two chapters of this book, it's something
we have to actively do. It won't happen on its own. And
that's why throughout this book, we have numerous imperative commands.
Believer, you must do. Do this. Let these characteristics
be descriptive of your life. Peter repeatedly has these phrases
at the forefront of his epistle to remind us that we must be
taking active steps, actionable steps, in our walk with God to
have this eternal focus. And this will be the primary
focus of this passage today in verses nine through 12. Peter
will continue to emphasize the glorious standing that the believer
has in Christ. And he does this beginning in
verse nine. Notice the first phrase of verse nine, several
descriptors that Peter uses to describe the relationship that
the believer has in Christ. He says, but you are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own,
possession. Peter begins with this transition
phrase. Again, as you're looking at your
Bible, you want to highlight that phrase, but you, this context
is so critical here. Again, Peter has just said in
verse eight, they stumble because they disobey the word as they
were destined to do. Again, They're not destined to
stumble. This isn't a deterministic view
of God that says, nothing you do matters. Everything is predetermined
beforehand. And so you're kind of destined
to stumble and mess up in this way. It doesn't really matter
what you do. This is not what Peter's communicating. In fact,
he clearly explains why they stumble because of their disobedience
to the Word. And so now, Peter wants the believers
to understand that in direct contrast to those who stumble
and disobey, you are a chosen race. Again, the clear implication
is that as a chosen race, believers' lives are to be distinct from
those who disobey the word and stumble. It's yours. Peter makes
a clear contrast. Here are these people, Jesus
is actually a stone of stumbling. He is a rock of offense to them,
why? Because they disobey the word and they stumble. But you,
by clear contrast, you are a chosen race. You are a royal priesthood,
a holy nation. Peter will continue to hammer
away at this critical call to sanctification and obedience
in the following verses. But in verse 9, we see a number
of critical identifications that Peter places on the believers. The phrases chosen race, royal
priesthood, holy nation, these are all used to describe the
believer standing in Christ. Again, as you're looking at this,
we see the critical opening transition phrase, but you, it makes the
context so much more important in the preceding passage. You
are a what? All of these descriptors are
very important. You're a chosen race, royal priesthood,
a holy nation, and a people for God's own possession. If you're
going through and circling or highlighting, those are key identifiers. You want to mark those down.
And Peter will make those, he'll build his argument off of those
descriptors in the coming phrases. So first, we recognize the identification
as a chosen race. We recognize this because Peter's
previously discussed the relationship of the believers to Christ in
chapter 1. In chapter 1, verses 20 and 21, Peter writes this,
he, and that's referring to Christ, he was foreknown before the foundation
of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for the sake
of you, who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the
dead and gave him glory so that your faith and hope are in God. Peter, again, identifies Jesus
Christ as having been foreknown before the foundation of the
world by God. Peter says, Jesus is foreknown
before the foundation of the world by God, and you, through
Him, have this standing in God. You are justified before God
through Jesus Christ. Again, in 1 Peter 2, the beginning
of chapter 2, verses 4 and 6, Peter makes a similar point.
He writes this in verse four, as you come to him, a living
stone rejected by men, but in the sight of God chosen and precious,
for it stands in scripture in verse six, behold, I am laying
in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious and whoever
believes in him. will not be put to shame." So
again, highlighting Jesus Christ as the chosen cornerstone, the
rock, the foundation of our faith. Believers through Jesus are chosen
and precious in the sight of God. Peter says, whoever believes
in him will not be put to shame. One commentator writes this,
God has chosen a new race of people, Christians, who have
obtained membership in this new chosen race, not by physical
descent from Abraham, but by coming to Christ and believing
in Him. Peter writes this in verse seven.
The honor is for you who believe. Jesus Christ is God's chosen
means for the redemption of humanity. All you must do to be forgiven
of your sins is place your faith in the finished work of Jesus
Christ, God's chosen cornerstone. Do you understand that this evening?
It's that simple. Peter says, through Jesus Christ, you have
this unshakable foundation in Jesus. Peter further refers to
the believers as a royal priesthood and a holy nation. So the language
that Peter uses in verse nine, as he says, a royal priesthood,
a holy nation, this actually draws heavily from Exodus chapter
19, verses five through six. And if you wanna turn there,
you can. I'm gonna read both verses five and six just briefly.
Moses writes this, now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice
and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among
all peoples. For all the earth is mine and
you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you
shall speak to the people of Israel. So in this passage, Moses
is recording the words of God. And you notice what God says
to the people of Israel. You shall be my treasure and
possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine. You
shall be to me a what? Kingdom of priests and a holy
nation. Peter's drawing these words that
he's using now in his passage to describe the church the same
way. Israel as a nation was responsible
to reflect the glory of God to the nations. This is something
we've talked about for the past several weeks as being a critical
hallmark of the believer. You reflect God's glory to the
lost and dying world around you. This was what Israel was called
to do as a nation of priests, as a holy nation set apart to
God. This was their mission, reflect the glory of Yahweh to
the unsaved world. Their righteous deeds, their
holiness would set them apart. It would make them distinct.
As God's chosen people among the nations, it would point the
unbelieving nations back to God. And Israel frequently failed
in this regard. They were consequently conquered,
they were sent into exile numerous times to different nations. One of these nations is Babylon,
and so we have this overlap a little bit of the terminology, sometimes
Peter referencing this idea of Babylon to evoke this idea of
exile imagery. The people would have understood
that well. So in addition to this, the imagery of an Old Testament
priest, this would have been very familiar to the New Testament
believers. Not only is Peter drawing from Exodus chapter 19,
5 and 6, and saying Israel is supposed to be a holy nation
of priests, and now also the church is called to be that as
well. But Peter's now also drawing on the imagery of what an Old
Testament priest was. The people knew well within the
nation of Israel that priests were supposed to lead the nation
spiritually. Again, this was the responsibility
of the priests. And if you look through the Old
Testament narrative, anytime the nation of Israel started
to break down and fall away, which was the first institution
to go? The priesthood. That was 99%
of the time where the breakdown started first. The priest became
corrupt, the nation became corrupt, their worship was corrupted,
and so their relationship with God is broken. as God's royal
priesthood, we do not offer sacrifices today the same way that ancient
priests did in the Old Testament, but instead, we ourselves are
the sacrifice. Believers today, as priests in
a holy nation set apart for God, you're not offering sacrifices
in the same way that they did in the Old Testament. Instead,
you are to offer yourself as a sacrifice. What is meant by
this? We get this imagery from Romans 12 verses 1 and 2. Paul
writes this, I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies
of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and
acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be
conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal
of your minds that by testing you may discern what is the will
of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. So again, believer,
do you understand the high calling that is on your life? As a member
of God's royal priesthood, you are responsible to reflect the
glory of God through your life. Do you recognize that's your
mission? If you're a believer today, you must understand that
your body is not your own. You're bought with a price. Your
responsibility now is to glorify God in everything you do. Peter's
previously made this point in chapter one. He highlights the
high price of our redemption. In verses 18 and 19, he writes
this, In this passage, again, Peter's actually highlighting
the foolish ways in which the believers' forefathers walked.
Who do you think he's referring to when he says that? Peter's drawing on Old Testament
imagery here throughout his epistle. And now in verses 18 and 19 of
chapter 1, he says, you're actually ransomed, you're bought out of
those former feudal ways of your forefathers who were, who? The Old Testament priests that
frequently led the nation of Israel astray. You're bought
out of those former feudal ways. You don't have to be enslaved
the same way that they were to sin. You can be an entirely different
type of priest, a priest that is able, empowered by God's grace,
to live righteously, like no believer ever before you has
been. This is Peter's point. their
forefathers had walked foolishly, they had lived foolishly, Jewish
priests had failed miserably in their mandate to reflect the
glory of God. We have been ransomed out of
those wicked ways by the sacrifice of Christ. God has set us on
a new path and therefore we must glorify Him with our lives. Peter
finishes in verse nine, he says, a people for his own possession.
This is the last identifier that Peter uses to draw a comparison
of the believer's new relationship with Christ, their new standing
before God. This phrase is used throughout
the New Testament to reflect God's ownership over the life
of a believer and our responsibility to glorify God with our lives.
Paul writes actually in Titus 2.14, Jesus Christ who gave himself
for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for
himself, notice this phrase, a people for his own possession.
who are zealous for good works. Almost word for word, the exact
same phrase Paul uses in Titus 2 to reflect the effect of grace
in the life of a believer. Grace redeems you, it buys you
back from your sin, and it sets you on a new path. You are now
a people. Collectively, as believers, we
are a people that are purchased by God to do what? Be zealous
for good works to live a completely transformed life. As we examine
this passage in 1 Peter, we must recognize Peter is not, pay very
close attention to this because things get a little, we wade
into some deep water here. Peter has focused heavily on
theology in the first section of his epistle. And he does so
here. Peter is not advocating for replacement
theology. If you're taking notes, write
that phrase down, replacement theology. Peter is not advocating
for that. What do we mean when we say replacement
theology? This is the idea that in God's
plan of redemption, Israel has been cast aside, and now it's
all about the church, okay? And so in God's sovereign plan
of redemption, Israel was his chosen people, and now because
of their rejection, God says, okay, you're done, and now it's
the church. The church is my chosen people.
Now, this again, this is absolutely not what Peter's saying. Peter
is not indicating that the Israelites have been cast aside totally
out of the picture. And on the surface, it may appear
that that's what Peter's saying, because he writes that the church
is a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. And some commentators
do think Peter is saying the church completely replaces Israel,
but that ignores the whole of scripture. The church is simply
temporarily filling this role. Don't miss that. The church is
temporarily filling the role of God's chosen race. John MacArthur writes this, tragically,
Israel temporarily forfeited the great privilege of being
the unique people of God through unbelief. Until Israel's future
acceptance of its Messiah, God has replaced the nation with
the church. So while this is somewhat confusing,
again, this is a very important element of theology that we must
understand. We know Israel rejected Jesus
as the Messiah throughout the New Testament. The nation of
Israel largely persisted in their rejection of Jesus. Again, we
see that throughout the Gospel of John. We see that throughout
the acts of the apostles following John. We see over and over again
the nation of Israel rejecting Jesus, rejecting the apostles
who proclaimed Jesus, antagonizing the New Testament church. Even
still today, Jews broadly do not accept Jesus as the Messiah.
They persist in their hardened condition. And so because of
their unbelief, they have temporarily been replaced by the church as
God's chosen people. Paul talks about this in Romans
11. And so mark your place in 1 Peter and turn over quickly
to Romans 11. Very briefly, we want to look
at this and we want to be informed about these issues. Our theology
is not pie in the sky. Theology is very, very critical
to our everyday practice, the way that we live, and so we want
to understand it. And so Paul writes in verses 1 and 2 of Romans
11, he says this, By no means, for I myself am
an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, a member of the tribe
of Benjamin. God has not rejected his people
whom he foreknew. So I ask, did they stumble in
order that they might fall? This is in verse 11 now. I'm
sorry, I skipped down several verses and didn't tell you. Look
at verse 11 now. Paul says, so I ask, did they
stumble in order that they might fall? By no means. Rather, through
their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to
make Israel jealous. Now, if their trespass means
riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for
the Gentiles, how much more will the full inclusion mean? And so Paul here is addressing,
again, the temporary stumbling of the Israelites in the rejection
of Jesus Christ. They reject Messiah, right? They
say, Jesus is not our Messiah. We do not believe in him as God.
And so they reject him. And so because of their continued
rejection, we actually see in Acts chapter 28, what does Paul
say? Paul, in a biting address to the Jewish nation says, you
have rejected this message and the Gentiles are open to it.
The gospel is going to the Gentiles and the Jews hated it. They hated
it. And so they antagonized the New
Testament church. The Gentiles are not God's chosen people in
Jewish eyes. And so they say, no way, the
Gentiles are not God's chosen people. They cannot be part of
the church. And so they push back on this
and they push back on the spread of the gospel throughout Acts. And so Paul says, you have missed
the boat. And so the gospel is going to
the Gentiles. And so with this understanding, as Paul says in
Romans 11, Have they stumbled in order that they might fall?
He's specifically addressing this idea. Has Israel been permanently
put off by God and the church permanently replaced them? And
what does he say? By no means. He opens in verse one of chapter
11 saying, So numerous times, Paul says, God has not fully
set Israel aside However, they are temporarily
replaced. The Bible tells us clearly that
the Israelite nation, Israel will turn in the end, the Jews
will turn in the end and they will accept the Messiah. But
until that time, the church is filling a role. The church is
filling a role as God's chosen people. And so with that in mind,
Again, we must understand that. Now turn back to 1 Peter and
see the reason that God has called the church. God has called the
church for a reason, and you'll notice it at the end of verse
nine. Peter uses all of these, again, we said, these are very
important descriptors. Chosen race, royal priesthood,
holy nation, very important words. Now, why is the church chosen?
Notice verse nine. that you may proclaim the excellencies
of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. The final phrase of verse nine,
it contains a strong connection to Isaiah 43, verses 20 and 21. Again, Peter is drawing on these
Old Testament passages with a very clear purpose, to communicate
the church's temporary role as God's chosen people. That's why
he's drawing on these Old Testament texts. Peter doesn't draw from
the Old Testament text, just kind of, because he doesn't know
what else to say. No, Peter does that for a purpose,
and it's to demonstrate the church's temporary taking over of the
role as God's chosen people. Listen to this in Isaiah 43,
verses 20 and 21, Isaiah writes, for I give water in the wilderness,
rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the
people whom I formed for myself, that they might declare my praise. Again, Peter is drawing the connection
that while Israel was brought out of Babylon back to Jerusalem
to proclaim the glories of God, God has ransomed us as exiles
out of darkness. He has brought us into the light
for the very same reason. you must understand you are called
for a purpose. Instead of living according to
your former sinful patterns and the emptiness that is found there,
you should live with a singular purpose to glorify God. Again,
this is the only fulfillment an individual has in life. Remember,
as Peter refers to our feudal ways, he uses the same word that
is used 13 times in the first chapter of Ecclesiastes, 13 times
to describe that sinful pattern of life, his point is clear.
It does not satisfy. Live for Christ. This is the
only pursuit that will satisfy you. And so, as you consider
this, does this describe your life? As you consider the end
of verse 9, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called
you out of darkness into his marvelous light, does this describe
how you live? This rejoicing, this joyfulness,
it flows out of a heart that has been forgiven of sins, has
been granted eternal life. As you look at your life, are
you a joyful person? We've said several times as we
look at this book specifically, joy is a distinctly Christian
characteristic. Why? Because you can look at
your inheritance in Christ, you can look at your standing before
God because of Jesus Christ, and you rejoice in that. immense
cause for joyfulness and Peter's consistent theme through this
book has been to remind the believers of all that they have in Christ.
The forgiveness, the glorious inheritance that they have is
because of Jesus' sacrifice. The individual that truly grasps
these realities cannot help but share them with others. This
is an overflow of a thankful heart. one who has truly been
forgiven and experienced the forgiveness and the grace of
Christ, they can't help but tell others about it. It overflows
out of their life. Again, Jesus says in Luke 6 45,
for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Essentially,
what you love, you will talk about. Do you see that pattern
in your life as you consider things that you talk about? It
generally is things that you really love. Things that you
really enjoy. And so how often do other people,
unbelievers or even believers, how often do they hear you talk
about your walk with God? Consider that in your own life.
Think about the past week. How often did you, believer,
talk to an unbeliever or a believer about your walk with God? How
many times did that happen? Maybe one conversation? maybe two conversations, that
must be happening. That's descriptive of a true
follower of Jesus Christ, someone who has truly been transformed.
They love to talk about their walk with the Lord. So if you would answer that question
tonight, maybe you'd say something like, yeah, I don't really do
that. I never do that. Or I very rarely talk with others
about my walk with God. you're not living in line with
God's purpose for your life. Understand that very clearly.
God has a singular purpose for your life. He just told us through
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, through the Apostle Peter, what
is his purpose for you? Why are you chosen? So that you
may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you. so that
you can talk about what an awesome God you serve. If you're not doing that, you're
missing your purpose. He's redeemed you so that you
could tell others, again, what a great God you serve. If you're
not living that out practically, you need to evaluate, ask for
God's grace to grow and change in that area. He gives us his
grace for that purpose. Notice again in verse 10, Peter's
gonna continue to discuss with the believers the excellence
of their salvation. Notice verse 10, he describes
this transformation in beautiful terms. Once you were not a people,
but now you are God's people. Once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy. Again, what an incredible verse,
this verse describing our transition from once being children of wrath,
separated from God by sin, to now being recognized as the children
of God. Once you were not a people, wandering
aimlessly, no plan, no purpose, but now you are God's people. What a transformation. I mean,
from the very lowest of the lows to the highest possible high. We were by nature enemies of
God under his divine judgment. Jesus says in John 3, 18, whoever
believes in him is not condemned. Whoever does not believe is what?
Condemned already. Because he has not believed in
the name of the only Son of God. The mercy of God in his redeeming
work has been a primary theme through Peter's epistle. He opened
the book writing in verse three, Again, we have been adopted into
the family of God, doing nothing of our own merits, doing no work
that would justify our placement into this spiritual family, but God by his mercy
and grace has granted us salvation. That's what this verse is communicating.
And so as you consider this, just a clear, clear gospel call
in this verse. Have you believed in the chosen
cornerstone of Zion? Have you placed your faith in
Jesus Christ for salvation? Are you part of this spiritual
family? Are you a recipient of the mercy
of God? One who was once a wanderer,
now a part of a holy nation? Or have you today, have you rejected
this offer of salvation? Are you stubbornly pursuing the
former feudal ways of your ignorance? Have you disobeyed the word and
stumbled as Peter talked about in verse eight? If that's where
you're at today, you can experience the life-giving salvation of
Jesus Christ. Jesus, again, is God's chosen
cornerstone. He is the foundation of our faith. That's what that means. All you
need to do is place your faith in Jesus Christ's finished work
on the cross, and you too can join the family of God. Today, if you would say, I am
a believer, I have a personal relationship with Jesus today,
are you living like it? Again, we look at very clear
commands, imperative commands. Believer, you must do this. Your life must be defined by
this. Do you live righteously? Do you
live holy, sanctified? Are you set apart as the one
who called you? Again, Peter reinforces numerous
times throughout his epistle if you claim to be a child of
God. A natural outcome of that is
that you look like your heavenly father. Do you look like your
heavenly father today? You must. Notice verse 11. Verse 11, Peter continues, Beloved,
I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions
of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. Keep your
conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against
you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God
on the day of visitation. Peter now is closing the first
portion of his letter. Really, we see a break in between
verses 10 and verse 11. And I've been telling you guys
kind of as we walked along, the significance of Peter is really
from chapter one, the beginning of chapter one, he's continuing
in this singular theme. He is talking about the theology
of our salvation, the greatness of our salvation, and really
how that translates into our lives. Now, in the second half
of Peter's epistle, he's going to get immensely practical. We
transition from a heavy focus on theology and salvation in
the beginning, all the way through chapter 2, verse 10, and now
in the second portion, really chapter 2, verses 11 through
chapter 5, we focus on an incredibly practical section of instruction.
Here's how all of that theology should translate into your daily
life. Right? And so we see this throughout
the Bible. Many, many passages do this. Paul, we've referenced
in Titus 2, 11 through 15, we've referenced that passage many
times as having parallels to 1 Peter. Paul does the same thing
in that passage. In Titus 2, verses 1 through
10, very practical instruction. Verses 11 through 15, very heavy
theology. Here's what backs up why you
do what you do. You see how important Theology
is. And so Peter has laid a theological
foundation for us. Now we have practical instruction.
Why do we live the way that we live? All of this theology must
apply to specific life situations. Don't miss that. Theology applies
to specific life situations. Peter begins saying this in verse
11. Beloved, I urge you This is a strong admonition.
And you probably already catch the strength of this admonition
in the beginning of the verse. But one commentator says this
translation doesn't fully communicate the strength of what Peter is
trying to communicate. He's trying to communicate in
this admonishment. This translator writes, it's
better to say, I strongly urge you. I strongly appeal to you. Again, adding this extra weight.
And so as Peter has done several times in the book, he calls the
believers to action. Again, so many believers approach
their walk with Christ in this lackadaisical manner. They let
go and let God. Have you ever heard that before?
If this was how believers ought to live, the apostles would not
have made statements that demanded action. Peter would not be saying
here, I urge you, believer, I'm urging you to obey the commands
I'm about to give. He wouldn't say that if your
walk with God looked like some kind of passive, I just kind
of wait for things to happen to me. I just accept Jesus and
then wait for transformation to occur. That's just how it
works, right? Peter says, no, there are practical steps you
must take. What does that look like? Again, we see similar commands
issued throughout the New Testament, Romans 12, 1, which we looked
at already, Ephesians 4, 1, Philippians 4, 2, Philemon verse 10. These
all include similar admonitions to believers. You must do this,
respond to this command in obedience. These are calls for the believer
to live in accordance with their God-given mandate. And so Peter
also adds a critical modifier. He says, not just does he urge
you as a believer, but he urges you as a sojourner and as an
exile. It's critical that we understand
something about sojourners and exiles. Again, this is a point
that we've made a couple times, but it bears repeating. Sojourners
and exiles look like outsiders and everyone knows it. It's not
hard to pick out an exile. You recognize they don't fit
in with the culture, especially in this day and age. It was very
easy to see an exile from someone who had grown up and lived in
the culture. And Peter wants you to know, the biblically mandated
style of living that he prescribes in this passage, it will not
look normal to the outside world. Don't miss that. The way Peter
calls the believers to live in this passage, it looks distinctly
different from the way the world lives, and it's supposed to.
It's supposed to. This is part of reflecting God's
glory to the nations. We will look like outsiders,
and that's how God intends it. So sometimes as you feel like
maybe you're on the outside looking in in a certain environment,
maybe a public school situation or maybe a secular work environment,
you feel like you don't have a good grasp of what's going
on or what's being talked about or the activities that are being
taken part in, that's how God intends it. You don't need to
be familiar with all of those worldly pursuits. God says you
live a tangibly different life. And so as sojourners and exiles,
you should do what? Abstain from the passions of
the flesh. Because the world gives into these desires every
day. You shouldn't look like the world.
The world says whatever your passions are, whatever your desires
are, pursue them. So if that means today in our
culture, one day you're a boy, the next day you're a girl, that's
okay. Maybe that means money and success
are your idols. You will crush or defame or slander
anyone who gets in your way to achieve monetary business success. That's okay. Maybe that means
sexual gratification is your ultimate goal in life. And so
the world tells you, you don't need to be faithful to one partner
in a marriage relationship between a man and a woman. Peter says
in this regard, we must be seen as exiles, individuals who do
not belong. Because of this behavior, again,
it is part of the sinful lifestyle that you have been ransomed out
of. Peter is saying, You look like an exile in this way because
you've been bought out of that. You have been completely removed
from that type of living. And it should be demonstrated
in your life. Young person, listen carefully.
For you guys in particular, you may be entering a stage of life.
You may be entering into a certain workforce. You may be entering
into a certain school environment. where you will face constant
pressure to live like everyone else. You will face pressure
to pursue sin because everyone else does. Peter says this is
spiritual warfare and you need to be ready to stand for God
when everyone else bows. Remember the two commitments
of the young preacher, Jonathan Edwards. He made a list of resolutions. Number one on that list of resolutions,
I will stand for God. Very simple. Number two, even
when nobody else does, I still will. Are you resolved to follow
Christ like that? Peter says, I urge you to do
exactly that. You stand for God when no one
else does. We are God's holy nation. We're a royal priesthood. Our
righteous living must shine brightly in a dark culture around us.
Again, this is the attitude we must have as we engage the unsaved
world. Finally, Peter writes in verse
12, Notice verse 12, keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable,
so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see
your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. In
keeping with his theme of righteous living, Peter states the believer's
conduct must be honorable. Now this word again, in the English
translation, you would look at this and say honorable. Okay,
we kind of have a rough idea of what that means. This word
is actually very, very rich with meaning in the Greek text. It
could refer to any number of virtuous descriptions, all of
which are certainly implied by Peter. This word could mean good,
right, beautiful, desirable, noble, fine, honest, or fair. It could be used to refer to
character that has no equivalent. Do you understand the richness
of that term? Keep your conduct among the Gentiles
honorable. So upright, so righteous, the
outside world can look at your character and say, I have never
seen an individual with that kind of character before. This
is character that has no equivalent. Again, you notice how practical
this instruction is. As you engage with unbelievers,
is your conduct desirable? Is your conduct desirable? Is
it noble? Is it honest? Is it fair? This is how you should live as
a believer. Are you honest? Are you fair
with unbelievers? Immensely practical admonitions. These characteristics must define
your life. They must define your interactions specifically with
unbelievers, Peter says. Why? Because your inward transformation
that is affected by the work of Christ, it must translate
to outward righteousness. Do you understand that? inward
transformation shows up on the outside. And why must this righteous
character define us? Peter writes, so that when they
speak against you as evildoers, now stop there. Christians were
repeatedly maligned by the unbelievers in this culture. Remember, as
we open the book, we examine the historical context. This
book is being written around the time that Rome was burned
to the ground. And guess who was blamed for
it? Christians. Christians have been the great
scapegoats of history. If you needed someone to blame,
you could always count on the Christians. Why? Because they
were hated. Peter calls them to live righteously
and honorably in spite of the evil accusations made against
them all the time. Again, what a high calling this
is. Believers are held to such a
high standard in this passage. And ultimately, we're called
to live this way for a purpose. Notice the conclusion of verse
12. Don't miss this last phrase. This is why you're called to
live this way. Peter is literally saying, so that when these unbelievers
see their need for salvation, they might respond in repentance
and faith because of your righteous example. Do you understand the
critical weight that that places on a believer and their need
to live righteously? You should live righteously,
why? So that when an unbeliever recognizes, I need Jesus, I'm
a sinner, I need to be saved, they would remember your example. And they would say, that person
had something real. and I want what they have. Can you imagine what a shame
it would be if an unbeliever considering salvation could think
back to maybe something you did and say, you know what, that
person claimed to be a Christian and they were horrible to me.
And I want no part of that in my life. What a travesty. God has called us to live in
such a way that adorns the gospel, that makes the gospel look attractive
to the outside world. And so can I just encourage you,
if there's ever a situation where you conduct yourself in a sinful
way, especially with an unbeliever, you make a serious effort to
apologize to that individual, to inform them that you did not
act the way you should have, and you did not represent Jesus
Christ well. ask for their forgiveness, because
this is the sole mission of the believer, to draw as many individuals
to Christ by their conduct as possible. And so as you examine
your life this evening, as you examine yourself, is this kind
of living descriptive of your life? Does your life reflect
this kind of righteous living? Do you do good to those who have
sinned against you and hurt you? Do you live as a royal priest,
a member of God's holy nation, reflecting the glory of your
Savior to the lost and dying world around you? You must. The encouragement from this passage
is, by God's grace, you can. You don't have to do it on your
own. Let's bow and close with a word of prayer. Dear God, we're so thankful for
this epistle of 1 Peter. We're thankful for your grace,
for your mercy, that has redeemed us. We're thankful for your son,
Jesus Christ, the foundation, the cornerstone of our faith,
that through him, we're made right with you. We are believers. Our hope is in God. Lord, I pray
that as we go out from this place, these truths would impact our
lives. I pray that we would have opportunities to interact with
unbelievers, that our conduct would be so honorable, that our
character would be without comparison. that they would look at our lives
and not see our greatness, but the greatness of our Savior that
radically transformed the way that we live, that they too would
desire a transforming relationship with Him. God, we pray for your
grace to do this. We know we can't do it on our
own. And so as we leave from here, we ask that we might seek
to implement these truths into our lives. We understand the
call to action. Peter urges us to obey these truths, and so
we ask for your grace to do that. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
Chosen for Transformation
Series Living in Babylon
| Sermon ID | 22025136345449 |
| Duration | 53:52 |
| Date | |
| Category | Midweek Service |
| Bible Text | 1 Peter 2:9-12 |
| Language | English |
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