Day 33: 40 Days Through The New Testament

Ishmael LaBiosa: Welcome to 40 Days Through the New Testament. This podcast is led by Pastor Rusty Small at Liberty Baptist Church in Appomattox, Virginia. Listen as he guides you through all 27 books of the New Testament in preparation for Easter. Get your Bible ready. Here's today's message. Well, we moved to the letter of 1 Peter today and we get a look here of two books written by Simon Peter, 1 and 2 Peter. Today we'll look at 1 Peter, tomorrow we will look at 2 Peter. Peter is a major figure among the disciples and then is a major figure in the birth of the church. Peter is well known by the time you get to this particular letter, if you have read carefully the Gospels and you have read the book of Acts. Also I stated just a bit more about Peter is that the Gospel of Mark is very likely composed in Rome and John Mark, who is a non-apostle, is the person who writes the Gospel down, thus it bears the title the Gospel of Mark, but Simon Peter is the source. And church tradition, and evangelicals very widely accept this, say that Simon Peter basically gave John Mark what to write and John Mark wrote it down. So in some ways the voice of Peter has already been heard in the Gospel of Mark and you've heard a sermon from Peter in the Book of Acts. So you have some sense of his voice. We note here that Simon Peter is likely in Rome. We get the term Babylon used a few times. in this particular letter. It states that it was composed in Babylon and that's usually a euphemism for Rome in the first century among Christians. Also, who's this written to? Well, it's written to all the Christians, it seems, in Asia. And we get this, it says in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. So that whole region is ⁓ is the area. So this isn't written to like a particular church. It's written to like a dispersion of Christians in an area. If you want to get to the heart of what is going on here in 1 Peter, you really need to pay attention to the first verse. And in different translations, it gives this in different ways. But here it says in the Christian Standard Bible, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those chosen living as exiles. Now the word exile doesn't mean much to us as Americans, but it meant a lot to a Jewish audience because the exile, the sending of the children of Israel or the nation of Israel out of the land, especially under the Babylonian captivity, was a horrible experience. And that horrible memory lodged in the kind of Jewish consciousness and they didn't forget about that moment. So exile is bad. then we get this, so exile is bad, but then we get this word that is put against it, chosen. So this is where Simon Peter is really going to play off of this. He's going to say, I'm writing to you who are chosen, they're like, yay, chosen, that's good, or elect, that's good, I've been chosen by God, and then it's paired with exiles, and that's bad. And so here's this essence of this identity that you're chosen, but you're exiles. And here's the deal that Simon Peter's gonna say immediately right after this, that Christ has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of the dead and that we have an inheritance, an inheritance that is in heaven waiting to be revealed. Simon Peter is going to tell us ultimately that we'll get a new heaven and a new earth and heaven will come to earth and the world will be restored but that's not now, that's in the future and so right now that is your inheritance but in the state of things as it is, you're in exile. Exile quality will lead and has led to suffering. But Simon Peter says this suffering is not to destroy you. Listen carefully, this suffering is to refine you. It is to make you more pure than gold, but because you suffer for this brief time so that your faith more pure than gold can be revealed. And then oftentimes I've lived in the same community my whole life. And so I don't know what it is to be an outsider, I don't know what it is to feel marginalized. I have traveled very widely and I certainly have been to places where I know I don't fit in and that's a difficulty. And when you're in these moments where you just feel like I don't fit in, oftentimes the move is to fit in, especially if not fitting in results in your persecution. But Simon Peter says, no. Be holy. The word holy means to be set apart. He says be holy because God is holy and you are a holy people. And so your exiles in the world, you shouldn't fit in. You ought to, I like to say Simon Peter will say, stay weird. March to the beat of your own drum. Follow Christ in the midst of a world who doesn't understand Christ. And then he gives these big visions of who The Christians should think they are like Old Testament Israel that was unique among the nations. So the New Testament church ought to bear this uniqueness of a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possessions. But now notice we are a holy people set against a world that we don't fit in. Simon Peter says, no worries about that. 1 Peter chapter two, verse 11, dear friends, I urge you, here's the theme again, as strangers and aliens, or strangers in exiles, to abstain from sinful desires that wage against your soul, conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, outsiders, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will give glory to God on the day that he visits. And then he gives instruction here about how is the Christian to live in a society that is being persecuted. Their behavior should be impeccable. That's what Simon Peter says, because of their holiness, because of the way they live, that the conduct of yourselves honorably among Gentiles, so when they slander you as evildoers, they'll slander you maliciously and they'll slander you without cause. But your behavior, they can slander you but an honest observer, it doesn't stick. Now he says in this context, verse 13 of chapter two, submit to every human authority because of the Lord. And then you say, but they're still insulting me. And Simon Peter marshals out now the example of Jesus. You say Simon Peter's congregation is no doubt saying to the people he's writing to, wait a minute, we are being. put in front of governmental officials and we are being unjustly charged. And Simon Peter says, well, that's not the first time that's happened. He says, let's go and look at Jesus. Jesus, who stands before Pontius Pilate is unjustly charged and guess what he does? He is insulted, he is maligned and no deceit. Simon Peter said was found in his mouth. When he was insulted, he did not insult in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. And so he says, hey, note, you can conduct yourself well, and you don't have to give it back when you get it. Now, this holy conduct is not just in society, it's in the home. And it's even in the home, when even in the home we may feel like a stranger. Because Simon Peter initially points to women here who have an unbelieving spouse. And guess how the believing wife is to win over the unbelieving husband. Simon Peter says you win him to the word without a word, again through one's conduct. Now the whole idea here is most of the time in life you do well, you don't get persecuted. But sometimes in life, You do well, you do right, and suffering still comes. And these folks are living well, but because they're Christian, they're suffering. And Simon Peter says, look, you should not never suffer for wrongdoing, okay, because the Christian is living holy. But if you suffer because of following Christ, well, that's okay. And in doing this, in doing this, you are in solidarity with Jesus. And that it is oftentimes in the context of suffering, Simon Peter will say, that people will ask you, why are you suffering well? And Paul says, that's a perfect, rather Peter says, that's a perfect opportunity to give a response, to give a reason for the hope that is within you. Because when you're suffering, and you're acting well, people go, what's going on? Why are you different? Simon Peter says, that's an excellent place for witness. I just want to propose, lastly, Simon Peter says, if a Christian has to go through this much difficulty, he says here at the end, for if a righteous person is saved with difficulty, what will become of the ungodly and sinner? So then let those who suffer according to God's will entrust themselves to a faithful creator while doing what is good. And then lastly, Simon Peter, commends the elders, the leaders of the church, to realize that they're not the ultimate leader. The ultimate leader is Jesus. They're under shepherds. He's the chief shepherd. And that even the leadership of the church ought to possess the qualities of humility. And then this letter ends with a call to humility and a trusting in God that at the right time, God will exalt you in the way. he deems fit. Concentrate on this idea. A lot of Christians say right now, as American culture is getting less and less Christian, we feel more and more marginalized. And I think Simon Peter would say, welcome to the majority of Christians in Christian history. And that is not a place to become irritated. It's a place to become holy. It's a place to learn how to suffer well. It's a place to learn when people malign you, to learn how to keep your mouth shut, and only open your mouth when they say, would you give us a reason for the hope that's within you? And then you can say, let me tell you about Jesus. Thank you for listening to this podcast, A Ministry of Liberty Baptist Church. We pray that this is an encouragement to study God's Word and that you will join us for the next episode.