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.