A PILGRIM'S PORTRAIT

Introduction

-{1 Peter}

-One of the most famous Christian literary works outside of the Bible is Paul Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress. It is an allegory that tells the story of a man named Christian who starts the journey to the Celestial City. The book tells of Christian’s travels, portraying the trek of life that every Christian experiences. Christian is a pilgrim progressing toward the goal, and along the way there are highs and lows, friends and enemies. In the story Christian receives help and guidance along the way—to assist in his progress.

-Real-world Christians receive such help from Scripture. Just like those who go on a hiking trip might use maps or apps or guidebooks so they can find and remain on the trail, the Holy Spirit inspired men to write what we might call a field guide for those on the Christian journey. Among those, the apostle Peter wrote an epistle filled with help and guidance for Christians as they try to traverse the life of faith in an unfriendly environment. So, I want to study his first epistle so that we are encouraged and helped and guided through our own journey.

-I call this series “Progressing as Pilgrims” and today’s message “A Pilgrim’s Portrait.” As Americans, there is a picture that comes to mind when we use the word “pilgrim.” We think of guys with big hats that have buckles on them, women with bonnets and long dresses, and they’re all eating turkey with Native Americans. But the word itself speaks of someone who is traveling through a foreign land, and it often has the idea of someone who is traveling to a holy place. And that’s us. We are people who are traveling through a foreign land until we reach the destination of the most holy place—the place of the presence of God—the Celestial City.

-I want us to learn how to successfully negotiate this pilgrimage in a way that is most honoring to God. Today, we want to look at the identity of a Christian pilgrim—how does the Bible draw the picture of who a pilgrim is? And we find that being a pilgrim means we are other-worldly, we are foreign, we are different—and our lives ought to reflect this. Our identity in Christ gives us our identity as pilgrims. But how does that look?

1 Peter 1:1–2 ESV

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

-{pray}

-In just two short, introductory verses, Peter paints a portrait, showing who we are in relation to the world and it is based on who we are in relation to God. So, let’s consider these strokes of the brush in this portrait. Let’s first look at...

1) Our relation to the world

-We know we won’t be on earth forever. Knowing that our time is short and our stay is temporary, how are we to view ourselves as people who are in this world but not really at home? This is what Peter had to say, we first see that we are...

a) Elect

-Peter is writing to several churches, and in v. 1 he calls the members of those churches ELECT. The term looks back to the people of Israel. Out of all the peoples and nations of the world, God chose one man, Abraham, through whom He would create a people for Himself. The nation that arose from Abraham was called His chosen or His elect people. The term speaks of a people that God draws to Himself and calls out from everybody else for a select purpose and plan through whom His will would be accomplished. God called Abraham and the nation of Israel out from all the other nations so that God’s name would be made known and Israel would be the vessel through whom Messiah would come. Now we who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ are drawn to God and become His special people for the purpose of building His kingdom, calling others out so they too will believe and be part of the elect. So, it means that we are a people chosen by God for Himself—to be His prized possession.

-You might think of the concept through the adoption of children. The child is not biologically born to the parent, but the parent chooses to bring that child into their family and make them their son or daughter. Although not naturally an heir, that child is now given all the rights, privileges, and benefits of being in that family. The parent calls the child their own and treats them as their own because they chose the child to enter into that relationship, and no one is able to change that relationship.

-So now we, who were not originally the people of God, are now the chosen people of God in Christ. We are called by God to be His very own. This is a blessing to know and live in this truth. First, this tells us that we are secure. No one is able to change our status. When you are one of the elect, no matter what you experience or what your circumstance might be, you are always one of the elect—you are a chosen people of God. Second, this means that God has a plan and purpose to extend His will through you. As you are on your pilgrimage, God has a use for you. Sometimes you might be on a holding pattern, other times your life is going 90 to nothing; but as part of the elect you have a valuable purpose in God’s redemptive plan. But there is another part of our relationship to the world; we see that we are...

b) Exiled

-In v. 1 Peter calls us ELECT EXILES. The word refers to someone who is in a foreign place and is just temporarily residing wherever they might be. Some of your translations might say that we are chosen strangers or sojourners. The idea is that wherever a person happens to find himself or herself, that is not their permanent place of residence. It is merely temporary housing. It is a resting place until they move on toward their destination.

-Peter calls us exiles or strangers or sojourners because this world isn’t our forever home. Yes, God created the earth and God put man on the earth to rule and tend as His imagers. But after sin was introduced into the world, the world became cursed and was no longer the place God intended. The world is only fit for those who themselves are broken and cursed and lost. But God calls an elect people out of the world to be His new people, and He is going to create a new heaven and new earth for them to reside in. This sin-filled, cursed earth is no longer a fit place for God’s elect. He has something better in store. But until Jesus returns or we die and get to that place, we are here on this earth fulfilling His plan for us. But this is only temporary—this is not our permanent assignment. It’s somewhat cheesy, but the old gospel hymn had it right, THIS WORLD IS NOT MY HOME I’M JUST A’PASSIN’ THROUGH.

-So, picture it this way. This year I’m going on a couple of trips, taking some long plan rides. On one of the trips I have a layover in Miami; on the other trip it’s probably going to be a layover in Houston. In each of those layovers, I’ll probably be there an hour and a half. By me just being present in Miami and Houston, doesn’t make me a resident of those cities. I’m just there for a short time, and then I move on to my destination.

-Peter is saying that’s the way we relate to this world. We may be here 50, 60, 70, 80 years, but this world is still not our home. This world is a layover until we reach our final destination. So, that means we have to stop acting like this world is our everything. We spend so much time and money and resources building our little empires here on the earth, when in reality all of it is going to burn someday. Jesus tells us not to build treasures here on earth where moth and rust destroy and thieves steal. Instead, build treasure in heaven (our destination and permanent home) where moth and rust cannot destroy and thieves cannot steal.

-It’s not saying that you can’t do anything for you and your family here on earth. I’m not saying don’t have a home, don’t have a job, just live in your car and go around preaching Jesus. I mean, if that’s what God is calling you to, great. What Peter is conveying here is to get a perspective on you being a pilgrim. You are an exile. You are an alien in a foreign country. Don’t become so comfortable in the world that you start taking on the thoughts and actions of the world and you forget where you really belong. Before you invest so much in the world, don’t forget about eternity. You take so much time and effort and resources investing in the things of this world where you are a mere pilgrim, put that same effort into the journey you are on. But Peter’s portrait goes on, and he tells us what I call being...

c) Extended

-In v. 1 Peter calls on the people who are ELECT EXILES OF THE DISPERSION. When he calls his original audience people of the dispersion, he is referring to the fact that they are Christians who find themselves all over the Roman Empire. He specifically names some places in Asia Minor where this letter is going to be distributed and read. But it reminds us that God’s elect exiles are not found just in one place—they are dispersed…they are extended all over the world.

-The background to this word is found in the Old Testament. Israel was God’s elect people, but under the Mosaic covenant their residency in the Promised Land was dependent on their obedience. So, for a while, God’s elect people were found all in one place—in the land of Israel. All of Israel was in Israel. But they became a proud and disobedient people, and so the Assyrians came in and took the northern kingdom of Israel into exile, and over a century later Babylon came and took the southern kingdom of Judah into exile, and the people were forcibly dispersed all over those empires. God’s elect were no longer just in one place—they were all over the place. This was commonly referred to as the dispersion.

-Later, after Jesus’ resurrection, His disciples were found all in one place (for the most part)—Jerusalem. But then persecution came, and Christians left Jerusalem and went all over the Roman Empire. This too is called a dispersion. But, in reality, that was God’s plan all along—that His elect would be extended throughout the world so others would learn about Him. That’s what the nation of Israel was supposed to do, but didn’t. But that’s the beauty of the church—we are a dispersed people. God’s elect are extended throughout the entire world with the purpose of letting others know that they too can become one of the elect. Since pilgrims do not have a permanent home here, they are temporary residents spread through the earth. We are elect exiles of the dispersion in Alabama. God has us here at this time for His assignment, but at any time He could disperse/extend you elsewhere.

-Think of it this way. Many of you are military, and the military extended you throughout the world. You moved to Germany and then to California and then here and then there. You had a mission and assignment, and you were dispersed to where you were needed. When I was a very young child, my dad was a Marine. He was in Okinawa when I was born, then when he got back we went to Camp Jejune, then went to New Jersey. We were dispersed for whatever assignment my dad was given.

-Us Christian pilgrims are dispersed to where we are needed. Right now, you’re needed in Alabama. And we are in a unique situation—a dispersion of people are coming to us (in a sense). So let’s invest ourselves in this work in the little time that we have.

-This is the first stroke of the portrait—our relation to the world is that we are ELECT EXILES who are EXTENDED throughout the world. But Peter also describes us in a way that talks about...

2) Our relation to the Lord

-It’s our relation to the Lord that is the basis of our relationship to the world. So, how does Peter portray us pilgrims in this sense? First, we are...

a) Foreknown

-Reading vv. 1 & 2, we are elect exiles of the dispersion according to the foreknowledge of God. God knew us beforehand. God knew we would be the elect. God knew He would extend us to wherever His will and purpose so desired. All of this is according to God’s foreknowledge.

-Now, I know you have probably heard it said that God looked through the corridor of time and saw who would believe and that’s how He knew the elect. But the meaning of the words and the testimony of Scripture do not support that. First, God’s foreknowledge and election and predestination are all based on God’s attribute of being eternal, which is not something that our finite little brains are going to be able to wrap around. God has all knowledge, is everywhere present, and possesses all power, and it’s all connected to Him being eternal. God is not bound by time or space, and so He knows everything and He’s everywhere at all times. We have to be OK with the fact that, according to His eternal character, God foreknows, He elects, He predestines, and yet we are personally responsible. It is a tension that we just have to live with. You say, “I don’t get it.” Join the club, I don’t get it either. Only an eternal God gets it. We just have to accept it and let the tension be there.

-But a second reason why the whole “looking down the corridor of time” thing doesn’t hold is because of what the words mean that are used. That word FOREKNOWLEDGE doesn’t merely mean that God knew beforehand who the elect would be, like it was some passive thing. God wasn’t sitting in heaven passively and came to the realization that you would believe. The term portrays the concepts of relationship and centering one’s attention. So, because God is eternal, before we were even born He was able to center His sights on us and build relationship with us. Again, we may not fully get it, but there it is.

-Think about what that means for us. Regardless of whether or not we are able to understand the whole foreknowledge and election thing, at a bare minimum, if you are a Christian you are in a sense the center of God’s attention and He has been building a relationship with you. Your present feelings and circumstances have no say or bearing on the fact of the promise of Scripture that you have been an eternal focus of God’s love and mercy and grace. From eternity, God knew you, elected you, built a relationship with you, and that is something that is never going to change. So, if you feel lonely in this pilgrimage, you can confidently carry on knowing that God foreknew you intimately and still knows you in a very personal way. But, not only are we pilgrims foreknown, we are also...

b) Formed

-Peter says in v. 2 that God’s foreknowledge of us is IN THE SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT, FOR OBEDIENCE TO JESUS CHRIST. The word SANCTIFICATION means to go through a process of being made more and more holy. But this holiness is not just some passive, sitting back; rather, it is a process that brings us to a greater obedience to God. It does not lead to perfect obedience, but it does lead to greater obedience that grows as the years pass by.

-So, Peter is saying that we are ELECT according to God’s FOREKNOWLEDGE, for greater OBEDIENCE. The obedience is first found in obeying the call of the gospel—placing your faith in Jesus Christ: that He died for you and rose again for you. And then you are given the indwelling Holy Spirit who (with your involvement and cooperation) makes you more holy over time. And the holier you become, the greater your obedience will be. Jesus Himself said that if we love Him we keep His commandments. So, part of being the elect is that we are formed more into Christ’s image. The Holy Spirit molds us into what we have been elected to be.

-Before Michelangelo created the masterpiece we know as “David,” Agostino d’ Antonio had worked diligently but unsuccessfully on a large piece of marble. He gave up his effort and said, “I can do nothing with it.” Others tried after him but failed. This piece of marble was laid in a rubbish heap for 40 years. One day Michelangelo saw the stone and believed that it had great possibilities. From that seemingly worthless stone was carved one of the world’s masterpieces of sculpture- David. For Michelangelo, the job of the sculptor was to free the forms that were already inside the stone. He believed every stone had a sculpture within it, and the work of sculpting was simply a matter of chipping away all that was not a part of the statue. When God looks at us, He doesn’t see a rough piece of rock but He sees Christ in us. As the Master Sculptor He is able to chip away all that is not a part of what He wants us to be.

-It is a rough illustration, but the Holy Spirit works on the elect to get rid of that which is not like Christ, but then also mold and shape what is there to be like Christ. Part of the journey of the pilgrim is being formed; but we also find that in our relationship with God we are...

c) Forgiven

-Peter says that these elect exiles have been sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ. This picture hearkens back to the Old Testament of the cleansing rituals the Jews would have to go through to be ritually clean to be able to participate in worship. The sins of the people had to be covered by blood for the forgiveness of sin before they could approach God. The problem with the old system is that this shedding of blood would have to happen over and over and over again.

-What has brought us before God as one of His elect is not anything we have done, but all that Christ accomplished. Jesus shed His blood so our sins would be forgiven so that we could be one of the elect exiles of the dispersion. We were not forgiven just so we can live our lives for the world. We were forgiven so that our pilgrimage would be one where eternity is constantly on our mind. We are not of this world. We are not meant to stay in this world. So, let’s live like the forgiven pilgrims that we are.

Conclusion

-I’ll close with this. I want the next slide to come up. I was unable to locate who the artist is, but this is a portrait of Christian being sent forth on his pilgrimage in Pilgrim’s Progress. This is a picture of a pilgrim on his journey.

-And this is what Peter has given us—a portrait of us pilgrim’s on our journey. Because God foreknew us, He forgave us in Christ and has started the work of forming us by His Spirit; therefore, we relate to the world as elect exiles who have been extended in the world for His service.

-Christian, maybe you have made yourself too comfortable in this world instead of living as a mere temporary resident, and you need a better perspective. Come to the altar and repent of your worldliness and set your mind on the truth of being a mere pilgrim.

-But maybe you haven’t even started on the journey—it’s starts by faith in Jesus, and then you become one of His elect...