Being Holy in Foreign Territory

Introduction

Greeting

Good morning, everyone. It’s so good to be together again today, and for us to have this opportunity to encourage one another in the Lord. I’m excited to be sharing from the Word of God today…and if you were here the last time that I preached, we’ll be camping out, once again, in 1 Peter 1. We’re going to continue building off the foundation that we already laid in the first 9 verses as we shift our focus to verses 13-19 this morning. If you don’t already have your Bibles opened up, I encourage you to go ahead and turn to 1 Peter 1 so that we can be ready to jump in together here in just a moment.

Well it’s hard for me to believe this, but it’s been almost 20 years now since I left the comforts of my mom & dad’s home & went off to college for the very first time. I graduated from Northfield back in the Spring of 2003, and then just a few months later, in the Fall of 2003, I entered into my Freshman year at Taylor University.

Though I was looking forward to the start of a new chapter, this first year of college ended up being a pretty difficult season for me. Leading up to that point, I had been been blessed with 18 years of much comfort & much familiarity here in Wabash. I had been a decent athlete in the area…had a loving family…a loving church...and a tight-knit group of friends to surround me.

But then, moving away and being freshman in college, all-of-the-sudden, I found myself in a whole new environment. I was an introverted, immature, insecure young man who was really struggling to fit in with new classmates and a new basketball team. I was away from my family…away from my church…and away from my tight-knit group of friends. Though only a mere 45 minutes away from home, I felt as if I was a stranger in a foreign land: very lonely, very homesick, not experiencing a whole lot of joy, and not really quite knowing how to navigate daily life very well.

Maybe for you, your first year away at college was a struggle like mine, feeling like you were strangers in a foreign land. For others of you, maybe your first year of college felt like just the opposite: like you had finally made it home and that you had reached the promised land!

Regardless of our college experiences, whether you even went to college or not yourself, or whether you’re even old enough to attend college yet...we’ve all felt like we’ve been in foreign territory before. Locations & Situations where we just not feeling comfortable…feeling out of place…deeply longing to be somewhere else where you feel more at home. Navigating life in foreign territory can be very difficult.

Review

As we discovered a couple week ago, the Apostle Peter wrote to a group of fellow Christians who found themselves suffering in foreign territory. Exiles. Some of them were literal exiles who had physically been driven away from their homelands amid Christian persecution that had broken out across the Roman Empire.

But ALL of these believers, in one way or another—whether they literally found themselves in a new place of residence or not—were feeling like strangers in a foreign, fallen land.

At some point, these exiles had heard and believed some incredible, life-changing News: that just a few decades earlier, as prophecy foretold, Jesus of Nazareth…Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, had come to earth. They heard and believed that He had lived a life that was full of miracles & void of any sin...that he had died a sacrificial death for the forgiveness of their sins...that He had risen from the dead & ascended into heaven…and that He had promised to return again. This truly was “good news” for these believers!

Yet, at the same time, they found themselves in a very challenging “already, but not yet” reality. On one hand, by faith, they believed that Christ had "already” come & accomplished this great work of salvation & redemption for them. But on the other hand, they were still “not yet” experiencing the fullness & consummation of their salvation & redemption. As they were trying to keep the faith, by sight, not only were they not with their Savior nor had they ever seen Him with their own eyes, but what they were seeing (& experiencing) were various hardships & trials.

The Apostle Peter, amid his own personal trials, was well aware of this, and sought to minister to his brothers & sisters in Christ by means of this letter. His hope & prayer was that God would use the words of this letter to pour out grace and peace on these fellow believers amid their trials & amid their suffering. In looking at verses 3-9 a couple weeks ago, we saw right out of the gate, just how and why grace & peace could be multiplied to them amid their difficult circumstances. And like our brothers & sisters in Christ of that day, just how & why grace & peace can also be multiplied to us as we face our own difficult circumstances.

Living Hope.

Living hope that starts the very moment that our merciful Father causes us to be born again and brings us to faith in His Son, Jesus Christ.

Living hope that looks forward to an inheritance and remains alive throughout the entirety of our “born-again” journey on this earth, amid all the different trials that God uses to test & preserve us in the faith.

Living hope that one day, when our time on this earth is complete, our hope will be realized when our souls are finally saved, and when our faith gives way to sight, and we are forever with our Savior.

Brothers and Sisters in Christ. When we reflect on the difficult trials that we deal with in this sin-cursed world here and now....and we contrast it with the perfect, pain-free, blessing-filled inheritance that awaits us with Christ Jesus...it’s no wonder why Peter addressed his fellow believers as “exiles.” It’s no wonder that WE FEEL like exiles…that WE FEEL like foreigners here on this earth some days.

As those who have been born again, by faith in Jesus Christ, the reality is that we ARE INDEED strangers on this earth. What once was our home when we were apart from Christ, is no longer our home anymore now that we have been united to Christ. We long to be home with Christ, but we're not there yet. And in the meantime, between now and then, we have a life to live & a mission to carry out here in this foreign, fallen land. It’s uncomfortable at times...It’s painful at times…it’s lonely at times.

Setting the Table

As children of our Heavenly Father, while we remain “in the world,” we are not to remain “of the world.” Scripture tells us that we are a new creation, newly created in Christ Jesus for good works…called to be holy, or set apart, from the rest of this world while at the same time remaining in this world.

So how do we go about doing this? How do we go about living life as foreigners in “Earthly Babylon” while being away from our homeland, the “New Jerusalem?” How can we be holy, like our Father, while suffering in foreign territory?

Preview

I want to invite us all to set our eyes on 1 Peter 1:13-19. My plan for the rest of our time is for us to first read this passage together. I’ll then share & expound upon 2 main points from this text before closing with a few words of exhortation. Let us stand together as I read this passage for us.

Passage Reading & Prayer

This is the Word of God:

1 Peter 1:13–19 ESV

Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” And 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 futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

Amen. Would you please join me as we thank God for His Word?

How to be Holy in Foreign Territory

Point #1: Born-Again Thinking

Point #2: Born-Again Obeying

Closing Exhortation & Prayer

Pre-Sermon Scripture Reading:

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

Sermon Focus:

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And 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, 18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.