1 Peter 1:17-21 - Living with Reverent Fear as Pilgrims

The Word Read

Please remain standing for the reading of the Holy Scripture. Hear the Word of the Lord from 1 Peter 1:17-21:

1 Peter 1:17–21 ESV

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. 20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you 21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Behold, brothers and sisters, this is Word of the Lord. Please be seated. Let us pray.

Summation and Diagnosis

I want to start my sermon by reading Romans 6:13:

Romans 6:13 ESV

13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.

Living as obedient members/slaves to God is the expectation for the believer. We live in a covenantal relationship with our God and part of our responsibility is to live holy lives because we have been brought from death to life by the gracious work of God.

1 Peter 1:13-2:3 is a discourse that the Lord gives to His church so that she may live holy. Our lives as believers should look different than those around us. Furthermore, and something I think we miss in our individualistic culture, our lives as a corporate church should look different that other organizations/community groups. As a church, our primary aim is to glorify God and make disciples. We are a living organism centered on God and His mission, not a static organization seeking to fulfill our own wants and desire. As a result, we live holy with one another provoking the entire church to good works in the light of the Kingdom whereby others will come to praise God.

As I mentioned, 1 Peter 1:13-2:3 is a discourse on holy living. This passage has a total of 5 commands that tell us how to live holy as pilgrims on earth. Last week we looked at two of those commands: 1) Set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, and 2) Be holy in all your conduct. Today we will study the third command - conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile.

With all this in mind, the sermon title is “Living with Reverent Fear as Pilgrims”. I have the passage broken into three sections - 1) Reverent Living Towards God the Father (1 Peter 1:17), 2) Ransomed by Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19), and 3) Our Faith and Hope in God (1 Peter 1:20-21). Again, the sermon title is “Living with Reverent Fear as Pilgrims”. I have the passage broken into three sections - 1) Reverent Living Towards God the Father (1 Peter 1:17), 2) Ransomed by Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19), and 3) Our Faith and Hope in God (1 Peter 1:20-21).

1 Peter 1:17 - Reverent Living Towards God the Father

Let’s take a look at 1 Peter 1:17 again:

1 Peter 1:17 ESV

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,

Again, remember the command - conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. The first part of verse 17 is the background information that sets up the command. What do we learn about God in this verse? He is the judge who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds.

On August 6, 1961, a Soviet cosmonaut named Gherman Titov became the second person to orbit the Earth. He was the first person to orbit the Earth multiple times and was the first person to throw up in space. Lock that in your brain for weird facts to discuss at your New Year’s Day dinners! Titov reflecting on his time in space said this:

“Some people say there is a God out there.… but in my travels around the earth all day long, I looked around and didn’t see Him.… I saw no God nor angels. The rocket was made by our own people. I don’t believe in God. I believe in man, his strength, his possibilities, his reason.”

Psalm 14:1 should come to mind:

Psalm 14:1 ESV

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good.

What does Titov say? There is no God, declaring himself to be a fool and submitting himself to severe, wrathful judgment of the Father. Peter writes to those who are children of God, those who call on God as Father. God the Father is the great Judge who will one day judge impartially according to each person’s deeds. God will engage in a judicial process against all people, including you and me, where their works will judged.

On the day of Judgment, this will be our reality. We will stand before this great and awesome Judge with no defense in our own. As Peter writes, God will judge our lives impartially according to our deeds. We know our deeds. Did we not spend time confessing our sin to the Lord this morning? Do we not understand that there is no boast in our works before the Lord? One day, Gherman Titov will stand before God and see the God he mocked on earth. He will believe in the God he denied on earth and in space. Guilty will be the verdict. Yet what will be your defense? The blood of Christ. There is no other defense. Christ and Christ alone!

This background information of God being the Father who judges impartially sets up the command - Conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. The fact that we are able to call the Lord “Father” does not excuse us from living as holy. How are we to live? In reverent fear of the Father. This fear is an ongoing, ever-present reverential, awe-inspiring fear that forces us to be entirely dependent upon Him every moment of the day. This ongoing, ever-present reverential fear of God is not lived out to produce salvation. It is the exact opposite. True salvation produces a life of ongoing, ever-present reverential fear of God whereby all our lives are lived to the glory of God. No part of our lives are off limits to God. However, how often do we tell God a certain part of our lives are off limit. You can take 90% of my life, but this 10% I want for myself. We still wrestle with the pride of life in our hearts. In living for ourselves, we live in an unclean manner.

Dr. Babcock was the pastor of Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City. He was once approached by member, a surgeon, who was concerned about Dr. Babcock’s health. The man gave him tickets to a play and said, “Take these. You need the recreation of going to this play.” Dr. Babcock looked at the tickets, and knowing he could not conscientiously attend said, “Thank you, but I can’t take them. I can’t go.” The physician asked, “Why not?” Babcock responded, “Doctor, it’s this way. You’re a physician; a surgeon, in fact. When you operate, you scrub your hands meticulously until you are especially clean. You wouldn’t dare operate with dirty hands. I’m a servant of Christ. I deal with precious human souls. I wouldn’t dare to do my service with a dirty life.” All Christians are called to this type of conduct, so don’t do your service to God, which is living your life to Him, with a dirty life. Do you live this way intentionally? Is Sunday a day set apart for God, while the rest of your week is full of unrepentant, intentional sin? Does your week look like the works of the flesh as Paul lists in Galatians 5:19-21:

Galatians 5:19–21 ESV

19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Do any of those works prick your heart this morning? We must ask ourselves why then don’t we, or maybe, when then shouldn’t we live this way? Why don’t we live according to the works of the flesh? Because we have been redeemed by Jesus. As a result of our redemption, we live as holy exiles in this world. The word “exile” carries the sense of having temporary residency, but not having full citizenship. We live in an in-between legal state. This word is used one other time in the New Testament. Acts 13:17:

Acts 13:17 ESV

17 The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it.

The Israelites did not have full citizenship in Egypt. They held temporary residency because God promised Abraham that his descendants would be exiles in a land that is not there own and then God would save or deliver them. They were mere exiles in Egypt, and we are mere exiles on this earth. We do not have full earthly rights because our full citizenship is in heaven. Why would we even want full citizenship in an age where Satan is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4)? We live in the in-between. So, let us live as heavenly citizens on earth with all our lives lived with reverent fear towards the great God of Heaven - the one we can call “Father.”

1 Peter 1:18-19 - Ransomed by Christ

We come now to our second section, 1 Peter 1:18-19, where were are given the answer to why we live as holy exiles - we’ve been ransomed or redeemed by Christ! Once in Chicago a meeting was held and almost every known religion from the world was represented. During a session, Dr. Joseph Cook, introduced a woman who was in despair. She was a murderer and nothing she tried removed her distress. Dr. Cook asked, “Is there anything in your religion that will remove her sin and give her peace?” No one replied. Dr. Cook looked to heaven and asked, “John, can you tell this woman how to get rid of her awful sin?” Silence. He cried out quoting 1 John 1:7, “The blood of Jesus Christ, His Son cleanses us from all sin.” All the others sat in silence as they were without a message of hope.

Why do we live the life commanded in 1 Peter 1:17? We know that we have been ransomed or redeemed by Jesus Christ. “Ransomed” in the Greco-Roman world referred to the liberation of a slave. The slave would give money to a temple god or goddess. The deposit would then be given to the treasury and the slave would be considered free from the owner, but the slave would become a slave to the god/goddess. In doing so, the slave would then be considered as redeemed by the deity. Do you see what 1 Peter 1:18 says:

1 Peter 1:18 ESV

18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

What were we ransomed from? Our previous ways of living, which were useless and idolatrous. This life filled with idolatry did not save us. The traditions of the previous generations, even great and respected traditions/people, do not save us. Peter would even be writing this to the Jews - your Judaism does not save you. The traditions of the forefathers are no good regarding salvation. Listen to how Paul words this in Philippians 3:4-7:

Philippians 3:4–7 ESV

though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Every accomplishment Paul lists he moves to the column of “loss” for the sake of Christ. He was the Jew of all Jews - all loss. The same is true of us today. We are not saved by our traditions. There will be many people who were church members for decades that will be in hell for eternity. They never repented of sin. Their trust was in their church tradition, not in Christ. We are redeemed by Christ alone. As Peter writes, we are not redeemed by gold and silver, unlike the slaves who were redeemed by making a deposit to the gods. These are mere perishable items. Neither can save a person from their sin. How then are we ransomed? By the precious blood of Christ. Paul puts this another way in:

1 Corinthians 7:23 ESV

23 You were bought with a price; do not become bondservants of men.

Ephesians 1:7 ESV

7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

Romans 6:17–18 ESV

17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.

Do you see and hear it? You have been purchased, bought, redeemed, saved, ransomed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Does this stir your affections this morning? If not, know this - none beside God had this level of pity for your soul. None beside God had this level of love for your soul. The worthiness of all of mankind and angels combined could not purchase your soul’s redemption. You have been bought with a price - the death of the innocent Son of God on the cross. A price that was predetermined before the foundation of the world. This sacrifice is the only accepted by God. As Dr. Cook cried out in that Chicago meeting: the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. Again, remember the command that fills this section - conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile. Do not take the cost of Christ for granted. Does your life look like you take the precious blood of Christ for granted? Does your heart take the scandal of the cross for granted?

Do you see what Scripture compares the precious blood of Jesus to? A lamb without blemish or spot. Here again is an Old Testament echo. This refers to the Passover in Exodus. How would the people of God be saved from the 10th plague where the Lord would come to kill the firstborn in all Egypt? They would kill a spotless, unblemished, year-old male lamb. They would take the blood and paint it in their doorposts and lintel of the houses. The Lord would see the blood of the spotless, unblemished lamb and passover their homes and the life of their firstborn would be spared. The Passover in the Exodus points to the work of Jesus Christ. The perfect, spotless, unblemished, sacrificial, precious blood of Jesus is our redemption.

1 Peter 1:20-21 - Our Faith and Hope in God

We come now to the third and final section in our passage - “our faith and hope in God”. Let’s look at the Word:

1 Peter 1:20–21 ESV

He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

The “He” in 1 Peter 1:20 refers to Jesus Christ. The redemptive plan in Christ was known before the foundation of the world. Christ on the cross was not a plan created after Adam’s rebellion in the Garden of Eden. The Eternal Decree of God for redemption was planned long before time began. The birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ was planned after the fall of mankind. In the union and communion of the triune God, the Covenant of Redemption was birthed. This plan was put together before in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth!

Do you see when this was made manifest? “In the last times”. The last times were inaugurated during in the death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Kingdom of God broke through in the person and work of the incarnate Son of Man. Guess what? We live as pilgrims in the end times continually keeping our gaze to Heaven. We understand our citizenship is in heaven and we live as holy exiles anticipating the glorious return of the One who gave His life for us. This is the heart behind the Advent Season. We take time to purposefully prepare our hearts for the return of Christ.

Do you notice who receives the benefits of the work of Christ? We do, those who are believers in God through Christ Jesus. There is only one way to God the Father and it is through the God-Man, Jesus Christ. Furthermore, it is only through Christ that we receive spiritual benefits. Listen to the blessings we have that Paul writes of in Ephesians 1:3:

Ephesians 1:3 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

You hear that? Every. Spiritual. Blessing. Not some blessings. Every. Spiritual. Blessing. The God who initiated the plan of salvation long before the foundations of the world does not withhold spiritual blessings from His children. He is not an unfit earthly father who withholds love and grace until his children prove their worth. No, He lavishes His grace upon us. No other worldview or religion gets us to God or His spiritual blessings. All other religions are counterfeits.

Notice what God does for Jesus in the middle of 1 Peter 1:21 - God raised Jesus from the dead and gave Him glory. Just take a minute to reflect on that truth. God raised Jesus’s dead lifeless physical body and then gave Him glory. Do you remember what Peter wrote earlier? 1 Peter 1:10-11:

1 Peter 1:10–11 ESV

Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories.

What is the end result of this? How does Peter end verse 21? So that, your faith and hope are in God. A woman in John Owen’s congregation had experienced a miscarriage. Owen’s wrote her a letter to encourage her. At one point he writes this line, “God in Christ will be better to you than ten children.” Now we hear this and think, “how is that comforting? God in Christ will be better to you than ten children? How insensitive!” Owen’s can write this because ten of his eleven children died in early childhood from great famine and disease. Sadly, his eleventh child died a year before he passed. Owen’s experientially knew the pain of losing ten children, but he also knew that God in Christ was better than ten children. His hope and faith in Christ carried him throughout his life. Thus, “God in Christ will be better to you than ten children.”

This is the same faith and hope that carried our family through the losses of our three children. This is the same faith and hope that have carried the saints of old through their lives as they experienced tragedy and death. The same is true of you sitting here this morning as you end 2023. The redemptive work of the triune God is so that your faith and hope are in God, but do you have hope this morning? Is there hope of the glories that are to come in your heart? Do you hope in Jesus whom God raised from the dead and gave Him glory? If not, His arms of forgiveness extend to you. He calls you to repent of sin and to declare He is Lord and Savior. He will save you from the grips of sin, Satan, and Hell.

Conclusion

Sir Walter Raleigh was an English adventurer and writer during the 16th and 17th centuries. He was beheaded on October 29, 1618. He wrote these words, which were found in his Bible, the night before his death:

Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations 5020 Raleigh’s Trust

Even such is time, that takes in trust

Our youth, our joys, our all we have,

And pays us but with age and dust;

Who in the dark and silent grave,

When we have wandered all our ways,

Shuts up the story of our days.

But from this earth, this grave, this dust,

My God shall raise me up, I trust!

As Raleigh stared death in the face, he had faith and hope in God. The ax sharpened for his death, yet trust in God was in his heart. What assurance, faith, and hope in God.

Scripture this morning commands us to live holy lives before the Lord. The Lord requires us to live as holy pilgrims in this world. Why do we live this way? Because we have been ransomed by our Lord Jesus Christ. Never forget this. Never take for granted the price that Christ paid on your behalf. What does the redemptive plan of God produce in us? Faith and hope in God.

2024 starts tomorrow. Where is your focus as you think about this new year? As Kristin mentioned to the children this morning, let us be people that follow Jesus. It doesn’t matter if you are 4 or 84, our desire should be to follow our great God more and more each day. We are the holy pilgrims wandering this earth looking forward to a better future than what the world has to offer now. There is something much more sweet waiting for us. However, let us live like this now. Let us live holy unto to Christ. For He is our all in all.