And yes, he took his eyes off, Jesus began to sink, and Jesus saved him, but he is the only one that got out of the boat. That's boldness. When they came to arrest Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane, Peter's boldness shows up. Takes out his little short sword, and he begins swinging, he takes off Malchus's ear. And Jesus has to tell him, put it away, this isn't the time for that, but he is the only one seeking to defend Jesus against a horde of soldiers and guards. Frankly, we need men, a lot more men like Peter. And his character after the day of Pentecost is well documented. These 12 who were so afraid after Jesus' crucifixion, hiding in the upper room. After the day of Pentecost, these men are bold. And they are even boldly confronting the Sanhedrin that had crucified Christ. And that became Peter's legacy the rest of his life. Regardless of any risk, he's going to preach Jesus Christ crucified and risen again. Now, as I pointed out last week, the purpose of Peter's first letter was to encourage Christians to stand firm in the grace of God in the midst of the suffering, because they have hope. There's a confident assurance we can have in God. Though there are already bad things happening, God still controls the future. The letter itself indicates that Peter is writing at a time when there's a widespread suffering of Christians in the Roman world, and yet it's not been so extreme yet that he mentions martyrdom at all. And for that reason, we place it written probably about the time Nero started to blame Christians for the burning of Rome. So persecution spreading, but it's not become extreme yet. Now in the heading, Peter states that he's writing to those who reside as aliens scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, which is the map shows there. Now the red lines are Paul's journeys. Actually, it's his Third missionary journey, but you can see North Bithynia, Bupontus over to the left, Asia, Galatia, Cappadocia. That takes in most of what is now Asia Minor. So it's a wide area. Now we know that Peter had traveled to Antioch, Galatians chapter 2 verse 11. Church tradition is very strong that he went to Rome. A lot of indications for that and that he was crucified upside down in AD 68. Now Paul placed a great emphasis on going places where the gospel had not yet been preached. There's nothing to indicate that that was true about Peter. He would go to places, but he also showed up at places where the gospel had been preached. So, there's no reason not to believe that he went through these areas he's talking about. There are a lot of Roman roads. The beginning of that red line there over the right is in Antioch. So, it starts up in a Roman road, but there's Roman roads that go up into Cappadocia, Glacia, Pontus, and Asia, then come across at Constantinople, and then eventually make their way over to Rome. And so Peter could easily have traveled through those areas on his way to Rome. Now last week I only got as far as pointing out that Peter was writing to those in this very large area as part of demonstrating the sufferings of Christ, of Christians at that time were widespread. This week we're going to focus more on the specific identity of these people to whom he's writing in these areas. Now, it's always interesting to me in seeing how Bible translators try to make a Greek text sensible in English. It's not just a matter of trying to pick the best English word that matches the Greek word because you have to also deal with grammar. And English grammar and Greek grammar are different from each other. Now, those of you who know Spanish actually will understand something of that because Greek grammar and Spanish grammar are extremely similar. They're verb-based and everything else revolves around that verb. English, we tend to be word structure oriented and noun-based. We start with a subject and then we have an action, a verb of some sort, and then with a predicate. You can flip those things around a lot in Spanish. and that way create different emphasis. So, for that reason, when we come to this particular part, there's a lot of variations in the translations. I'll read a couple of them for you. They all start out Peter and Apostle Jesus Christ. That's simple. But you get to this next clause, I'll give you some examples here. The New American Standard, from that, so, to those who reside as aliens scattered throughout, and then it lists the Roman provinces who are chosen. The King James, to the strangers scattered throughout these provinces elect, and then goes on, New King James, to the pilgrims of the dispersion, listing the provinces, elect, ESV, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion, and then list the provinces, the Holman, to the temporary residents dispersed in the provinces chosen, and then Young's little translation is actually closest to the Greek, to the choice sojourners of the dispersion of, and it lists the provinces. That's a lot of variation. The words to the, to or to the, that are add, to there, are added because it's actually the heading of a letter. When you write a letter, if you write a formal letter, often you start off with, you know, from, colon, and you identify yourself. To, colon, you identify who you're writing to. That's what this is. So, in this case, you have a series of adjectives and nouns and no verbs. that makes it a little difficult to make it some sense in English, at least in a lot of the translators. This is then followed by a series of clauses that have no verb that explain more of the identity of who these people are and why he uses this description of them. There's no verb until the end of verse 2 in the salutation, may grace and peace be multiplied to you. So we're dealing with just a very plain description, but it's an important description. Now, just to be clear, a very wooden translation. The heading then is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. So this is basically, you know, word order and everything else. It's very bad English, but it's good Greek. Okay. Two. So, elect sojourners, and I put in the because it's actually contained within the noun, of the Dyspora in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by sanctification of the Spirit for the purpose of obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. So there's a very wooden translation of it. So let's look at each of these because each of these is very important in identifying these people. The first adjective here is a klektos. It refers to those who are picked out, chosen, the elect. Most often it is translated as chosen because the term elect seems to upset some people because they've been taught not to like the biblical doctrine of election whether they understand it or not. They just know if they hear the word it's, oh, that could be terrible and then they shut down. I remember the boys were checking out colleges and actually had a professor said didn't believe in the doctrine of election. It's like, I guess he doesn't know Greek and doesn't know there's a word there throughout all the text that says elect. You got to deal with it. Because it's in there and I will deal with that a little later in the sermon. The word here though is plural. So it refers to all the elect, all the chosen in the Roman provinces. Now who did the choosing is in the context and here it later shows up. It is the God, the Father who is doing the choosing. He is the one who elected them. And that is going to prove to be a key element in his encouragement for them to have hope and stand firm in the grace of God in the midst of their suffering. I'll come back to that later. The second adjective here, Para epidemos is a compound word with two prepositions and then a noun. Para means beside, epi is upon, demos is people. So it refers to people who are living beside native people. Or to say it a different way, these are people who live in a place among people other than their own ethnic or cultural group. And so that's why it's got all these different translations. It's translated as alien, stranger, temporary resident, sojourner, and pilgrim. The word is plural, and so in this sequence it refers to all the elect, all the chosen, who are temporary residences in this area of Asia Minor. Now the question immediately arises, so is Peter talking about people who are from someplace else that move there, therefore they're aliens and strangers, Or is he talking about something else? The answer is found later in 1 Peter, chapter 2, verses 10 and 11. He uses the exact same word again in a context that refers to Christians as, quote, those who were once not a people, but now you are the people of God who had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. And he urges them as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. So same word, so what's he talking about? It is an element that we are different when we can stand firm because we don't belong here. So what's going on around us doesn't affect us the same way as that you must be there. This is going to be important for us in the future as well. I can stand firm in the midst of suffering because I know where I actually belong and this isn't my home. So he's talking to people, whether they have lived there all their life, or they came in and started to live, is you are no longer of that culture. You're no longer of that. Why? Because when a person becomes a Christian, they become new creations in Jesus Christ. That's 2 Corinthians 5, 17. So even though they're my own people, they might be my relatives, I'm different from them. I'm no longer like them. God has transformed me into something different. The second part is, as Paul puts in Philippians 3.20, "...our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory by the exertion of the power that He has, even to subject all things to Himself." So we're looking forward to Jesus' return because that's when we finally get to go home. We're not home. This is an alien land for us now. Our citizenship actually belongs someplace else. We're actually ambassadors from heaven to here. Even though we've not been to heaven yet. But that's where a citizenship is. And so that's why several versions can even translate this as pilgrim. Actually, I kind of like that term. It refers to somebody who's on a journey into a foreign land. And so whatever sufferings we have on this earth are short-lived. That's part of his point here. Paul states this in Romans 8, 18. The sufferings here are not worthy to be compared with the glory that's to be revealed in us. So that's a good thing. If we had to say this was our home and this is it, we'd probably be pretty depressed. Even though it's a beautiful area, we don't like what's going on. Okay? If you've had really, really bad neighbors, do you really look forward to eternity living with such bad neighbors? Unless God changes them and makes them something completely different, in which case they're good neighbors. So, I can be encouraged. It's not my home. I have dual citizenship. And the one that's important to me is the one in heaven. So, as an ambassador from there, I seek to do everything I can to change things here. So, the description here, the next word is diaspora. It refers to a region or an area in which people have been scattered. It's used in both John 735 and James 1 specifically referring to the Jews who had been scattered among the Gentiles in the deportations of Israel and Judah. That's not the meaning here because he's speaking both to Jews and Gentiles. So the description here is, these are people who are elected, chosen by God, who are sojourners, they're pilgrims, who are scattered throughout this particular Roman province of Asia Minor. But how did these people get this description? How did that happen? Why does Peter use this particular description? If you look at most of the epistles, they're going to be fairly simple. To the saints at, to the churches at, even Peter in his second letter writes, to those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Why use this? Well, verse 2 gives the explanation of how and the reason why they got this designation. The purpose of the book is the reason why it's so important. Giving hope to a people who are beginning to suffer. I have a confidence in God so I can stand firm regardless of what's going on around me. Well verse 2 gives this how and reason. Why are they chosen? How did they become aliens scattered through provinces? It was according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Spirit for the purpose of obedience and sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ. So let's look at each of these phrases in sequence. Now the foreknowledge of God is confusing. We just have to start there. It's confusing because we are creatures who are entrapped in the time-space continuum. And we try to force everything into the box with us so we can make some kind of sense of it. But frankly, that is a futile effort because we are entrapped with finite limits in time and space, and therefore cannot describe what is infinite and exists outside of the box. You can think of it that way. If you have a box, how do you describe what's outside the box? Except where something from outside intersects through your box, or something outside the box tells you, while you're entrapped in the box, what it's like outside the box. Which is exactly what God has done. He's not in the box with us. He is an infinite being. We are finite. He's not in the box with us entrapped. He can be in the box. He can transcend through the box. He can tell us what's outside the box, but he isn't in the box. So how do we describe what's out of the box other than what he's revealed? We can't. And that's why the foreknowledge of God is one of those things that's just beyond our full comprehension. Anything beyond what God has revealed is simply speculation. God being an infinite being, his foreknowledge arises out of his infinite relationship to knowledge, we call that omniscience, to time, he's eternal, and space, he's omnipresent. He is beyond the time-space box in which we're trapped. He knows everything about everything in every period of time. He knows everything about what has happened in the past. He knows everything that is happening currently at this moment. And he knows everything about what's going to happen in the future. All prophecy is based on this. God reveals beforehand what the future is going to happen in the future with 100% accuracy. Isaiah put it this way, Isaiah 46 10, he declares the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been. And he makes that the test of a prophet in Jeremiah 18. Someone says they're coming, they're speaking for God, and they use prophecy as a means for breathing for God. If they're not 100% accurate, they're false prophets. That's the test. And though we cannot, we don't have the authority to stone false prophets now, the test is actually still the same. And so when you examine any group that wants to make a claim to speaking for God, and there's a bunch of them, all the cults, Jehovah Witnesses, Mormons, they've got prophecies. Most of the cults have some sort of prophecy. If they are not 100% accurate in everything they've said, they're false. Properly, they should be stoned, but we should at least mark them off. They are not to be followed. They are liars. Okay, their information didn't come from God. It came from the devil. The devil's smart, but he cannot predict the future. He's only really good at guessing, but you can guess really well if you know the past history. Just like you can pretty much tell, you guys who've been married say 25 years, you can pretty much know what your spouse is going to do and how they're thinking. Why? Because you've lived with them for so long, right? But if you've been only married a year or you're only dating, you're not quite sure what they're thinking and you can be really surprised. Well, sometimes the surprise is good. Okay? So the devil knows us, so he can make good guesses, but he cannot be 100% accurate, because he doesn't control the future. God does. That's part of what this whole foreknowledge thing is. We're dealing with a being who's other than us. Now, the word foreknowledge itself, prognosis, is the prefix pro-, which means before, joined to the word gnosis, which refers to a knowledge that's gained by experience or observation. So it's different than, there's another Greek word for knowledge, oida, which is something you learn by hearing about it. And that's actually what's the root of these words. Gnosis is, I've seen it, I've experienced it, it's more tangible. Oida is, someone told me about it. And we all know there's a difference here. It's very different that you know someone you have physically met than someone I was told about them. That's the difference between these words. Now Ephesians 1-4 states that God chose us in him before the foundation of the world. So before I existed in time and space, God knew me and chose me to be one of his adopted sons. I do not understand how that works. I don't understand how he foreknew me. But I am very comfortable in accepting the fact that in some way he did. Because that's what he declares. It's outside the box, telling me in the box something that is outside the box. I'll take his word for it. I don't want to push God into some means by which I force him back into the box with me. Okay? We ought to let God be God. Now the concept of foresight is substituted for foreknowledge. That attempt is not only very inadequate, it can also be very dangerous. This is the theology that God looked down the corridor of time and he foresaw who would choose him and he therefore chose them. Okay, that's actually fairly common out there. Now that would make God a responder to man's quest for salvation instead of the initiator of it. That's a real problem. According to Psalm 14, 1-3 and Romans 3, 10-18, there are none righteous and none who seek for God. So if God based his choice on man's choice, there would be no human to choose from, because no man will choose God of his own free will. The truth is that the unsaved do not have a free will. Their will is corrupted by their sinful nature and it's bound to sin. The natural man, Ephesians 2, 3, tells us that he lives in the lust of his flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and are by nature children of wrath. 2 Corinthians 4, 4 says their minds are blinded by the God of this age. As 1 Corinthians 2, 14 puts it, the natural man does not accept the things of God, for they are foolish to them, for they are spiritually appraised. He doesn't understand them. That's why even if you're going to go witnessing, you start with prayer. Lord, open the eyes of their heart. Open their minds to be able to understand the things I'm saying. It's got to be a work of God. So this means that God's genuine offer of salvation to all men, and that's all through scripture, it's genuine. But man cannot besave his own volition because he will not choose God unless God intervenes. So as soon as you find someone who's starting to search for God, God's already at work. And this goes back to the beginning. Remember, who is hiding from who in the garden? Okay? God didn't run away from Adam. Adam was hiding from God. Who sought out Adam? God. Adam wasn't searching for God. It's still the same way today. Man doesn't search for God. Man searches for God the same way a guy who just robbed the bank searches for the police officer. Okay? It's not going to happen. Jesus said in John 644, no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. John 1, 12 and 13, Jesus, John is very direct there, that those who believe in Jesus and become children of God do so because they were born not of blood, so it's not your heritage, it's not your genealogy, nor the will of the flesh, so it's not according to what you would like, nor the will of man, it's not according to what others like, but of God. That's where it comes from. So again, whenever someone starts seeking for God, you can be sure God is already at work. Now the idea of God looking down the corridor of time to choose those who chose him is also very dangerous. A couple reasons for that. One, it's a concept that easily changes salvation from God's mercy to sinners to God's reward for being good. And nobody is saved on the basis of their own righteousness because we don't have it. Second, it is the foundational concept for a heresy that's entitled open theism. This is the idea that God is entrapped in the time box with us, and he's adjusting his actions as time unfolds. It's a theology that denies God's attributes of omniscience and sovereignty. Now, God's choice, then, is according to His foreknowledge, which has this experiential component. And that foreknowledge, according to Romans 8, 29, and 30, is tied to predestination, His calling, His justification, and a future glorification of the elect. Predestination means to a point beforehand, directly linked to foreknowledge as its invariable result. those he foreknow, he predestined. Calling here is the effectual call of God that brings a person to salvation in Christ. Justification is God's judicial declaration, not guilty because Jesus Christ has already paid the redemption price. He's already paid. And so His righteousness is imputed to you. It's given to you. It's attributed to you. It's not yours. It's His. You are clothed with His righteousness. And therefore you're declared not guilty in court. Glorification refers to when believers will receive our inheritance. And that includes a glorified body. Amen. We don't have to deal with these bodies anymore. a resurrection body, and it is so certain that Paul speaks of it in the past tense, though it's in the future. That's a confident assurance. That's a hope. Foreknowledge, predestination, election, they are all part of God's decree in eternity past, which becomes a reality in present time and place with his calling and justification. And the promise of glorification is so certain to be fulfilled, it's past tense. Now, the intersection of God's foreknowledge, predestination, election, and His many commands for people to repent, actual commands, Acts 17, 30, God is now calling all men everywhere to repent, or to seek Him, Isaiah 55, 6, seek Him while He can be found, or to believe, if you confess your sins and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, that results in a theological tension. Because these are commands that are to be obeyed. And they're genuine commands. And all of it is true whether it makes logical sense to you or not. We need to remember we're finite with a limited capacity to understand, nor do we have all the information. Divine foreknowledge, predestination, and election are all true and aspects of God's sovereignty, but none of them are to be confused with what's called determinism or with fatalism, even if you do not understand how they interact with the human will and volition. Man has been given the ability to choose. It's part of us being made in the image of God. God knows man's decisions, but He is not the cause of man's decisions, and He justly holds man responsible for the decisions that man makes. So we need to be content, we need to learn to be content, and rest in God's character when it comes to these things that we cannot fully understand. As God said in Isaiah 55, 8 and 9, My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are my ways your ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, my thoughts than your thoughts. Peter is writing to those who are elect, chosen, to sojourners, the pilgrims scattered throughout this particular Roman province of Asia Minor according to foreknowledge of God, which is an incredible statement. And I don't understand it, but God knew me somehow experientially before I existed. Aren't you glad that's in God's hands and not in your mind? Now the second thing it says here is, so according to the foreknowledge of God, they have these adjectives that now can be applied to them. This is who they are. But also because of the sanctification of the Spirit. The second reason he gives. So foreknowledge is looking back to God's actions eternity past in choosing who would be saved. Sanctification by the Spirit brings about the fulfillment of predestination at a point in time. Sanctification, hagiasmus, has the same root as the word for holy. It is the consecration or setting apart of a person to God. It's the work of the Holy Spirit that begins at salvation. And it continues throughout life as the believer becomes increasingly holy, increasingly conformed to the image of Christ. It will be completed when He transforms us and we're glorified. So, sanctification itself is past, present, and future. Now, the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, which is what's being referred to here, is the point of the beginning of salvation. And that's the emphasis in this particular application. Now, that begins, according to John 16, 8 through 11, when Jesus is describing the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing conviction. He brings conviction to the world concerning sin, righteousness, and judgment. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me, he continues. And concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, you no longer behold me. And concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. Now the word convict here at Gleco means to bring to light or expose error, often the idea of reproving or rebuking. So it's bringing about a knowledge that is going to result in believing or doing something. Now it can be the gospel, we have many paths to deal with that, or you just be pointing out someone's sin. You can do that, it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to respond correctly, even if they're convicted. It's been brought to light, I recognize it, but now what's the response? In 2 Corinthians 7, 10, Paul describes two different responses. The gospel is given, or somebody's particular sins are pointed out, they become convicted, this is wrong, what I've been believing is wrong, and they respond with repentance. There's a change in their mind that results in a change of action. Paul describes this, this is godly sorrow. Paul's own testimony is that this is what he was sent to do. He's recounting to King Agrippa in Acts 26, Jesus sent of the Gentiles to quote, open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in me. But a person could also respond to that the other way. They could be convicted. Okay, I've done something wrong. I have feelings of guilt and sorrow. There is no repentance. There's no change. Paul calls that the sorrow of the world. They're sorry they got caught. Perhaps they're even remorseful about the damage what they've done has caused other people or even to themselves. But there's no repentance. There's no seeking forgiveness. That was the response of Judas after he betrayed Jesus. He felt guilty, so guilty he hung himself, but there's no repentance. There was remorse. The response to the sorrow of the world can vary from an embarrassment about it to an outward hostility, even violent that you brought it up and exposed them. Now, those who have godly sorrow, the work the Spirit continues. Because He then quickens, or He makes alive, the mind to believe and regenerates the soul to life. That's the point of Ephesians 2. God takes a person dead in their transgression and He makes them alive in Christ as they are brought to faith to believe and be saved by God's grace. That's what Jesus was talking to Nicodemus about in John 3. That's what born again is about. In Titus 3, 5-7, Paul explains, quote, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit. Regeneration is bringing to life. Whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that being justified by His grace, we might be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. So it is at this point in time that this new believer is washed, sanctified, and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the spirit of our God, 1 Corinthians 6.11. And whatever the sins were, they're different. Washed, sanctified, justified. In 2 Thessalonians 2, 13 and 14, Paul pointed out to them that God had, quote, chosen them from the beginning through salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. It was for this he called you through our gospel. So, sanctification of the Spirit is an essential aspect of salvation. It's also this time the new Christian is sealed by the Holy Spirit as a pledge of God's faithfulness to keep his promises according to Ephesians 1.13. 1 Corinthians 2.13 points out that at salvation the believer is baptized into the body of Christ, the church. And Romans 8.9-11 declares the Spirit of God, also called the Spirit of Christ in that same passage, indwells the believer. And unlike in the Old Testament where the spirit would come upon a person and leave, in the New Covenant the spirit always remains. Now you could grieve, you could quench the spirit, but he's still there. He doesn't depart from the Christian. Now, after salvation, that all happens, that's part of the sanctification spirit of salvation. After salvation, the Holy Spirit continues his ministry in the life of the believer. Let me list out ten quick things. First, he is the paraclete, the paracletos. He's the helper, the advocate who abides in us, as Jesus said in John 14, 6-7. Second, he is the spirit of truth that teaches us and bears witness of Christ in us according to John 15, 26 and 1 John 2, 27. Third, Romans 8, 16 declares the spirit himself testifies with our spirit we are children of God. There is an innate sense of assurance we have because the spirit bears witness with us we belong to him. Fourth, Romans 8, 26, 27 explains he is our advocate And He intercedes with the Father on our behalf because we don't even know how to pray. The Holy Spirit prays for us. Fifth, it is the Holy Spirit that enables us to give proper and acceptable worship of God in spirit and in truth. He's the one who prods it. Philippians 3, 3 and John 4, 24. Sixth, by walking with the Spirit, we do not carry out the deeds of the flesh. They're against each other. Instead, we bear His fruit. Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Seventh, the work of conviction continues, because He continues to make us aware of our sin, that we now, according to 1 John 1, 9, can confess, knowing He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all righteousness. That means He's conforming us to the image of Christ. He's making us more holy. He's setting us apart, making sure we are understanding. That's not what you need to do. You need to do this. Or quit failing to do this. You need to do it, because this is what glorifies God. That's a continuing ministry. Eighth, 1 Corinthians 12 explains, the Spirit is the source of our gifts in serving Him in the body of Christ. You didn't come up with it, He gifted it to you. Ninth, Romans 8.14 explains that those who are the sons of God are being led by the Spirit of God. And because He's the Spirit of truth, and He is the one that moved men of old to speak prophecy of God, this leading is always according to God's Word. If it is contrary to God's Word, you can be sure it is not the Holy Spirit that's leading them, regardless of what they claim. Tragically, there's a lot of people who are blaming the Holy Spirit for their own sin. saying, he led me here. No, he didn't. Okay, it wasn't according to the Word of God. That's not the Holy Spirit. And finally, he fills the believer, which is a reference to both the believer yielding to the Spirit, that'd be Romans 5.18, be filled with the Spirit. But it's also a reference to his empowering the believer in ministry and in living a holy life, Romans 15.13. That's a lot and that's fast. You can take my theology class, we'll discuss this for weeks on end. But these are important things, and these are things that give us confidence. So these people are elect sojourners scattered around these areas because of the foreknowledge of God and the sanctification of the Spirit. They become Christians. Now, this last clause in the heading is also related to the description of those whose Paul is writing. They are chosen sojourners scattered through parts of Asia Minor according to God's foreknowledge, according to sanctification, and here we have the purpose of obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. You're like, what is that? What's he talking about? Well, this last phrase is actually a reference to Exodus 24. This is when Moses confirms the covenant with the people of Mount Sinai. He recounts all the words of Yahweh. And then the people respond with this, we will obey. So there's the obedience. That's the idea of view here. In fact, the particular word for obedience here, the pokoi, is a reference to the initial obedience of faith that brings salvation that results in a continued submission of the center in Christ through salvation. Some reference to that, Acts 6-7, Romans 1-5, 15-18, 16-19, and 26, and 2 Corinthians 10-6. All those talk about this obedience of faith. It's part of salvation. Acts 24 goes on, it says, Moses then offered burnt and peace offerings. He took half of the blood, he sprinkled on the altar, and the other half he sprinkled on the people. saying, Behold the blood of the covenant which the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words. Now Hebrews gives us a whole lot more insight into this. Hebrews 9 19 through 22 refers to this very thing and points out that the purpose of the blood was cleansing. Stating that all things are cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 10, 22, 12, 24, 13, 12 all reference to the shedding or sprinkling of Christ's blood as the means of mediation of the new covenant and cleansing from sin. So the reference here in 1 Peter 1, 2 is to this application, this sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ that takes away the sins of the elect who have been sanctified by the Spirit. So salvation is decreed from eternity past, but it is carried out in a point in time as the redemption which was bought by Christ's own blood is applied to the believer. That's what he's talking about. So Peter's salutation and expresses his desire from them. Now that he's identified them, this is my wish for you. This is my desire for you. Grace to you and may peace be multiplied. He gives the same greeting in his second letter, 2 Peter 1-2, and it's very similar to either the greetings or benedictions throughout the writings of Paul. It's in James, it's in John, Jude, it's in Hebrews. Grace refers to an undeserved blessing granted by God. And so within grace there's mercy, there's love, there's forgiveness of sin. These are blessings by God. You don't deserve them, but it's grace that is given to you. Your salvation is by God's grace. You don't deserve it. It's a gift to you. Peace is a state of tranquility that exists when there's a harmony in relationships. Paul talks about in Romans 5, we have peace with God. So it's not an absence of conflict, there's actually harmony with him. There's a tranquility and Peter's desire for them that this grace upon them that they're going to experience, and then an increasing peace. He wants it multiplied, increased, abundant, overflowing. That's a nice desire, isn't it? One that certainly we'd like in our own lives. So the Apostle Paul is writing to people who were chosen by God. They are sojourners. They're scattered through these several Roman provinces of Asia. Their election, this situation in life, where they're living, are privileges that came because the foreknowledge of God, the sanctification of the Spirit, and this cleansing from sin receded because of Jesus Christ, shed his own blood for them. He redeemed them. Now, Peter could have identified them in many, many different ways. As again, it's very common in the other biblical epistles. But he purposely uses these designations. Because these are saints who are already starting to suffer. And he has written to them for the purpose of giving them hope and encouraging them to stand firm in the grace of God in the midst of that suffering. The message well fit for our own time as well. When you know that your salvation and your situation in life is well within God's sovereign plans and actions. It is a bulwark. It is a fortress against the discouragement that is normal when you're suffering. Okay? If you're in pain, anybody happy? No, you struggle against it and it's struggle to keep a good attitude when you're suffering. And if you're suffering from places you didn't think you should be suffering, it's even worse. But this is a bulwark against it. Nothing is happening that's outside of God's control. He's still sovereign. He was sovereign in my salvation. He's sovereign in my situation. I can trust Him because His grace has been shed in Jesus Christ to me in His blood. I can have confidence because it doesn't matter what else happens, I know Jesus Christ loves me. It was proven at the cross. That's why Paul points that out in Romans 5a. So this hope, this common assurance of the future is because of God's sovereignty. The foundation of being able to rejoice in both the obvious blessings of being in Christ, of having Christ as your Savior, and all the promises that come with that, but also as he's going to talk about in 1 Peter 4 at 13, rejoicing in sharing the sufferings of Christ. That cannot make sense unless these things are true and true about you. So to rephrase Peter's introduction a more personal way for our own place in time, To you, who according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, and the sanctification of the Holy Spirit, and a cleansing by the blood of Christ, are the elect of God living at the present time, scattered throughout the areas of the Hudson Valley and beyond, because I recognize some of you come a lot farther than just the Hudson Valley, grace to you and may God's peace be multiplied to you. Father, thank you for the truth of your word. Thank you that because of that, what you have done, we do have a confidence for the future. Regardless of what comes in our headlines, we know who's in charge. And as we now go before your table, make these truths relevant to us, that we may rejoice in you, in Jesus' name. Amen.