Sermon Tone Analysis

Passage: 1 Peter 1:2

Title: Elect According to the Foreknowledge of God

Summary: We start our study with the word, “Elect”.

God starts this Epistle with that word, so that when hard times come, when doubts flood in, we have a word that is immoveable and unshakable by the God who speaks it concerning us who believe.

Join us as we look into one of the greatest words in all the Bible and see what it means concerning you.

Peter’s Credentials / Still Feeding

Written by the Apostle Peter, whose credentials have been challenged because of his lack of education and training; but Peter walked with the Lord, the second Apostle called, and all could see that his power and boldness came because he had been with the Lord.

For 3 years he walked with Jesus step-by-step, and now it is 30 years since the resurrection and Peter is still faithfully doing what the Lord commissioned him to do, “feeding His sheep”.

The Dispersed

He is writing to the Believers that have been spread out, dispersed form their homeland, thrown into foreign countries.

Many of them are struggling and suffering; but their greatest struggle is yet to come, for in just several months Roman Empire Nero is going to launch and all-out attack and persecution against Christians, and over the next 2 centuries over 6 million Christians will die for their faith.

Why Peter Writes / Remember

Peter tells us in the Second Epistle why he writes to them (and us), to stir us up, to remind us, that we hang on to the things we have been taught in the Old Testament, the Epistles of the Apostles, and the teachings in the Gospels.

He says remember these things, hold on to them, no matter how hard life may get.

(2 Peter 3:1 NKJV) Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),

(2 Peter 3:2 NKJV) that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,

Doctrine – Duty – Declaration

Peter pretty much breaks this letter into 3 areas.

Doctrine, Duty, and Declaration; this book takes on the framework of Ephesians, except Peter adds on the Declaration – The Lord is Returning – Remember that!

Doctrine, what we believe and why.

Duty, doctrine in action, living it out.

Declaration, soon and very soon we are going to see the King, Hold-fast until then.

Doctrine: Remember Our Great Salvation (1:2 - 2:10)

The Certainty of Our Salvation (1:1 - 1:12)

The Calling with Our Salvation (1:13 - 2:3)

The Chosen of Salvation (2:4 - 10)

Duty: Remember Our Example Before Men (2:11 - 4:6)

Honorable Living Before Unbelievers (2:11 - 3:7)

Submission to the Government (2:11-17)

Submission to Masters (2:18 - 25)

Submission in the Family (3:1- 7)

Honorable Living Before Believers (3:8 - 12)

Submission to One Another (3:8 - 12)

Honorable Living in the Midst of Suffering (3:13 - 4:6)

The Principle of Suffering for Righteousness (3:13 - 17)

The Perfection of Suffering for Righteousness (3:18- 22)

The Purpose of Suffering for Righteousness (4:1 - 6)

Declaration: Remember Our Lord Will Return (4:7 - 5:14)

The Responsibility of Christian Living (4:7 - 11)

The Rewards of Christian Suffering (4:12 - 19)

The Requirements for Christian Leadership (5:1 - 4)

The Realization of Christian Victory (5:5 - 14)

Theme

He tells us to remember because of the theme of this book.

The theme of this book is given to us in chapter 5:

(1 Peter 5:10 NKJV) But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

The word suffering is used 16 times, glory 12, and grace 8. Peter unties these 3 words to write a letter of encouragement to those who are struggling and suffering, that their suffering will one day be transformed into glory.

Perfect / Establish / Strengthen / Settled

He writes to us so that we may be:

· Perfect -(mature) which means to mend (what has been broken or rent), to repair, to complete, to fit out, equip, put in order, arrange, adjust, to fit or frame for one’s self, prepare;

· Established – to set fast, confirm one’s mind;

· Strengthen– to make one strong;

· Settle– to lay a foundation.

Starts with Doctrine / Foreknowledge of God / Stand Firm in the Trials & Failures

Peter starts with Doctrine, the certainty of our salvation.

He is going to say we are elected according to the foreknowledge of God.

He starts with this, because it is the foundation from which we build on, back to our theme.

God builds this foundation so that when the trials of life rage against us, when our failures are before us, we will go and stand on our foundation, we are elected and secured in the Lord.

(1 Peter 1:1 NKJV) Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

(1 Peter 1:2 NKJV) elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

Paul / Ephesians / More Meat

Paul spoke on this back in Ephesians, and as we said these two epistles are laid our very much the same.

Let’s turn back to Ephesians 1:3-6.

Ephesians gives us a little more meat to chew on in terms of this doctrine of election and predestination.

Ephesians / New Heights / Into the Heavenlies

Ephesians has been called the Swiss Alps of the New Testament.

We climb to see who we are in Christ, and we see that we are seated in the heavenly.

5 times in this book is the reference made…in the heavenly.

Ephesians takes the Believer to heights they have never been before.

Verse 1:3 is the Key verse to the Book,

(Eph 1:3 KJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ.

This is where Ephesians wants to take us, into heavenly places with Christ; to show us the treasure of riches and blessings that are for every believer.

(Ephesians 1:3 NKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,

(Ephesians 1:4 NKJV) just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,

(Ephesians 1:5 NKJV) having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,

(Ephesians 1:6 NKJV) to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.

Into the Heavenlies / View from where He Sits / Our Position / Can’t Claim

Today, if you will, God wants to take you up into the heavenlies, and show you things from where He sits.

He wants to show us our position in Christ, adopted as sons, and He guarantees the believers position with the word…predestined.

Predestined, pre-determined, God planned these things before you were even born.

He shows we are guaranteed to receive His spiritual blessings…..and His guarantees are spiritual blessings in themselves.

God right from the start of this epistle wants to establish in us the security of our salvation.

If you struggle with your salvation, then you’ll never have the power to seize all your spiritual blessings god has for you until you resolve this issue.

Today He says to you if you are feeling down, depressed, dry………….then

let these words lift your soul, let them be Living Water that refresh your spirit, let them be a reminder to you.

4 Promises

Today we will see 4 promises for us as God shows us things from where He sits. 4 promises that will refresh your spirit, and show you your salvation is secure.

Before the foundation of the world you were pre-determined

· Promise 1: To be Chosen in Love (1:4)

· Promise 2: To be Holy and Without Blame (1:4)

· Promise 3: To be Adopted as His Child.

(1:5)

· Promise 4: To be the Praise of His Glory (1:6)

Words So Big / Flags that Wave

God is making a promise to us today, He is given us a word here in Ephesians, “predestined”, and in 1 Peter “elected”, a word that when hard times comes, when we struggle with our salvation, that we look at these words and they are so big to us, that we will have no problem seeing them and remembering them for what they mean to us.

They are flags that wave and we see them and remember.

Sept 13 1814 / British Navy

The day was September 13, 1814, from the embankments of Fort McHenry looking out into the entrance to Baltimore harbor one would see British war ships determined to bring the infant nation to its knees.

Although America had only recently miraculously won her independence from royal tyranny that sought to enslave the colonists into a world controlled by a hot-headed monarch determined to quash freedom of religious expression, Great Britain still controlled the seas with the largest, most powerfully Navy on earth - a Navy she used regularly to interdict American shipping, pillaging cargo and forcing sailors into involuntary sea duty aboard brutal frigates owned by the crown.

Britain never imagined the infant America would dare to declare war to stop the oppression, but we did - boldly and justly, but with no real hope of victory.

France / Wash DC / Ft McHenry / The Flag / 42 by 30