1 Peter 2:12 - Living as Aliens in Front of a Watching World (II)

The Word Read

Please remain standing for the reading of the Holy Scripture. Hear the Word of the Lord from 1 Peter 2:11-12:

1 Peter 2:11–12 ESV

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

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

Summation and Diagnosis

I invite you to open your Bibles or Bible apps to 1 Peter 2:12. I want to start my sermon by reading a few passages of Scripture:

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Philippians 2:14–16 ESV

14 Do all things without grumbling or disputing, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.

As I mentioned last week, I believe spiritual revival is always possible and it starts first with repentance of sin. We continue this week what we started last week, living as aliens in front of a watching world, but focus on the second part of what Peter urges the churches - to live honorably.

As we live holy, which comes only because of the Spirit’s work in us, we provide a mirror to society because they are watching us. What is the purpose of a mirror? It provides a reflection of what we look like or what the world looks like around us. For us as Christians, the Word of God is our mirror. When we peer into the Word we are provided a mirror that shows us how we are and are not living according to the will of God. For the world, the Church provides a mirror to them. This mirror reveals that they are unholy which provokes unbelievers to anger. Why? When the world looks at a biblically healthy church, they see the body of Christ which forces them to look upon Christ Himself.

For example, there are organizations that promote life for unborn children. We believe that life starts at conception. As Psalm 139:13-14 says,

Psalm 139:13–14 ESV

For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.

Or Jeremiah 1:5:

Jeremiah 1:5 ESV

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

With this we affirm that unborn children are sacred lives made in the image of God. I know a few folks who work for these organizations and have spoken to them and asked them why they do what they do. I’ve never had one of them say, “I wake up every day thinking of ways to make the world angry.” They usually say something along the lines of “I want to provide a voice to sacred lives who are unable to speak for themselves.” Thus, the world may see us as holy troublemakers because the patterns of the Kingdom of God are in direct contradiction to the patterns of the world. Our holy and godly living, can be offensive to the world.

However, our focus is not on their reactions or a having a reactionary response to their reactions, but on our lifestyle as holy to the Lord. I cannot even begin to count how many times I heard this growing up, “It doesn’t matter what they’ve done, you are responsible for your own actions!” This is exactly what Peter is going to detail in our next section (1 Peter 2:11-3:12). You are heavenly citizens and though you reside in a place that is not your home, you are called to live holy on earth. You can’t live however you want to just because you are now God’s people - you must seek to remove sin (1 Peter 2:11) and live honorably (1 Peter 2:12) so that others may come to know the saving grace of the Gospel.

With this in mind the sermon title is, “Living as Aliens in Front of a Watching World II”. I have the passage broken down into 2 sections: 1) 1 Peter 2:12a- Live Honorable Lives and 2) 1 Peter 2:12b - Lifestyle Evangelism. Again, the sermon title is, “Living as Aliens in Front of a Watching World II”. I have the passage broken down into 3 sections: 1) 1 Peter 2:12a - Live Honorable Lives, and 2) 1 Peter 2:12b - Lifestyle Evangelism.

Before we look at the text, let us come before God once again in prayer.

Father, I know how much I need you. I need you to help me communicate the wondrous and glorious riches of the Scripture the very Word of God. I know I need you to help me live honorable. We all know we need your help to do this. Would you help us to live honorable lives amongst the world so they would come to know the Gospel? Help us to receive Your Word and to live Your Word. Would you fill this sanctuary with your glorious presence as we sit under Your Word communing with You. We pray this in the name of the crucified and risen Savior Jesus by the power of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

1 Peter 2:12a - Live Honorable Lives

1 Peter 2:12 (ESV)

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable

Peter’s urge is not simply to abstain from sin, but also for the churches to live a life that is honorable in front of unbelievers. There are two principles I want to pull out of this half verse.

First, do you notice what Peter calls the watching nonbelievers? He calls them Gentiles. Isn’t it interesting he does not call them fellow Gentiles. The majority of the churches Peter is writing to are of Gentile descent, not Jewish. Peter is continuing to make the point that you are no longer Gentiles, but heirs in the Kingdom of God. Your citizenship is not to be based off your ethnicity, but the person and work of Christ Jesus. The vertical identity we share in Christ Jesus where He is seated in heaven (Ephesians 2:6) far outweighs mere earthly citizenship. Peter has made this claim over and over and over again. When I got to this point all I thought was, “ok, Peter. I think we get the point! I think you’ve belabored this long enough.” Then I looked upon my week and you know what? I might tire hearing Peter say this over and over again, but I don’t know if I’ve fully grasped this truth in my heart and life. As Ephesians 2:6 says, due to being in Christ, we now sit with Him in the heavenly places as He rules over the entire universe. If we are in Christ, and if we have been given the Holy Spirit by the Father and the Son, do we live as mere Gentiles engaging with the frivolous ways of the world?

As I reflected on that question, I experienced grief. The great God of heaven has called me His child and yet I can think of a plethora of ways I have lived as a child of earth this week. I'm sure you thought of similar ways during our time of confession this morning. The grief brought forth was not due to the wonderful truth that my identity is no longer a Gentile, because the Lord has transformed my heart and caused me to be His being born again by the Spirit, but because I have lived as a Gentile. I have not lived into the high calling of being one ransomed by Christ. This is our encouragement mixed with our disappointment, isn't it? We have disappointment, shame, and guilt because we have not lived as God has called us to live. However, at the same, we are encouraged because we have a Father who loves us so much that He desires us to live into this high calling because it is how we find the most enjoyment in life. Do we not wrestle as Paul does in Romans 7:18-20?

Romans 7:18–20 ESV

18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

I think we can all relate to Paul’s outcry. God, I know that I’m a citizen of heaven and my identity is rooted in the work of Christ, but O Lord, I live like a Gentile still. I, like Paul, do what I hate and do not do what I desire! So, we take the encouragement that the Lord no longer views us as unrepentant Gentiles, but as those whose sins have been forgiven and canceled (Colossians 2:13-14). Simultaneously we also know the depths of our depravity as we keep living as Gentiles.

Do you see how we are explicitly to live among the Gentiles? Peter says to live honorably. Many branches of the military and the police have some type of code or oath of honor. I’ll quote the Marine’s code of honor:

Honor guides Marines to exemplify the ultimate in ethical and moral behavior. Never lie, never cheat or steal; abide by an uncompromising code of integrity; respect human dignity and respect others. Honor compels Marines to act responsibly, to fulfill our obligations and to hold ourselves and others accountable for every action.

So, when we come to this word “honorable” we tend to think about this in terms of moral or ethical righteousness. Now, that is certainly a part of what “honorable” here means, but it does not encompass the whole meaning. The word also carries the idea of being beautiful and attractive. So, what does this mean and why does Peter write this to the churches living in exile?

Again, remember Peter’s audience - those who are the elect exiles of the Dispersion. The church in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. He’s not writing to a specific person, but to the catholic/universal church and to specific churches in these areas. We must remember this is not just an individual calling to live honorable, but a corporate calling involving every member of the church. Our living honorably in front of a watching world is first and foremost beautiful to the Lord. He is pleased when His children live Romans 12:1-2 in community.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

This type of living is a an act of worship. As we live morally, ethically, and biblically what happens? Those whom the Spirit is convicting of sin find the church attractive. Why? Because they are living out the Gospel and the Christian life experientially. It is not just abstract, but genuinely experiential. Yes, there are those who are enemies of God who will hate when we under the authority of the Word. However, there are those who will find this beautiful and are supernaturally and spiritually drawn to the church by the Holy Spirit because they are seeing the hands and feet of Christ lived right in front of their very own eyes. The church in living honorably ultimately point people to the risen Lord Jesus Christ as we grow into Him who is her head (Ephesians 4:15). Does our community find FPC to be morally and ethically righteous? Does Eden see our church, as the people of God, beautiful and attractive? Are they drawn to FPC because of the beauty of the Gospel seen within our midst?

But how do we do this practically? How do we live honorably among the Gentiles? As a note, these are just a few as a there are a plethora of ways found in Scripture on how to live honorably. First, the church submits herself to the authority of the Word of God. This past week in our Concise Theology class we read a chapter entitled “Authority - God Governs His People Through Scripture” and we discussed this truth. Our first step is committing ourselves entirely to living under that authority of Scripture. We cannot live biblically if we do not know the Word. It is certainly not easy to love in this manner and it can only be done by the power of the Holy Spirit working within us. Yet, God meets with His people through His Word. As congregations gather each week to hear the Word read, sung, prayed, and preached there is an understanding that the Almighty God of Heaven is meeting with them. Stop to think about that. Right now God Almighty is meeting with us. This is wonderful, amazing, glorious, and beautiful. Churches that are centered on God’s Word become healthy and vibrant. As Jonathan Leeman wrote:

Word-Centered Church: How Scripture Brings Life and Growth to God’s People A Theology of Buzz

Trusting God’s Word to build our churches is an act of faith. Faith in God. Faith in His Word. And such faith is not natural, even for the Christian. It’s supernatural. God must give it.

God will build His church through His Word, but it is a supernatural work that only He can do, not us. It is not anyone’s job to build the Church other than the Lord’s and He does it through His Word and His Gospel.

Second, how can we live honorably among the Gentiles? By fulfilling the one another’s in Scripture. There are approximately 60 one another’s in Scripture. I’m not going to read all of them, but I will mention a few:

James 4:11 ESV

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

1 John 3:11 ESV

11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.

James 5:16 ESV

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.

Colossians 3:13 ESV

13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.

How does the world see the beauty of our biblical living? As we fulfill these one another’s. We love one another. We bear with one another. We, unlike the world, forgive one another. In seeing these lived out, those who are being drawn to Christ see a community living out family life by those who are not biologically family. Our familial relationships are built upon nothing other than the person of Christ. This past week I had someone ask me, “what was the attendance on Sunday?” I said, “125”. He said, “wow, it seemed like more than that.” I thought through that for a couple days pondering why did it feel more than 125. I really think that person was picking up on something spiritual that was occurring in our midst as I believe the Spirit was especially present with us. Last week, Curt, our Elder of the month, didn’t leave until after noon. Why? There was about 15 people still in the sanctuary talking and fellowshipping with one another. As I watched the interactions, do you know what I saw? A small taste of the beauty and the attractiveness of the people of God living honorably with one another.

Thirdly, how does the world see the beauty of our biblical living? I want to mention something that I think we have lost in our modern church culture - the observance of the Sabbath Day. This is rooted in the fourth commandment found in Exodus 20:8-11. How many of you grew up going to Sunday evening services? Why did we do this? Most people say, “well it’s how it was back in the day.” However, I think the biblical reason is missing in their answer. The Westminster divines speak to the significance of the Sabbath Day in the Shorter Catechism Q & A 60:

The Westminster Shorter Catechism Question 60

How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

The Sabbath is to be sanctified by a holy resting all that day, (Exod. 20:8,10, Exod. 16:25–28) even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days; (Neh. 13:15–19) and spending the whole time in the public and private exercises of God’ s worship, (Luke 4:16, Acts 20:7, Ps. 92, Isa. 66:23) except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. (Matt. 12:1–31)

The purpose of the Sabbath Day, which is Sunday, is not that we have to spend the day in public and private worship, but we are freed from the issues of the world and have the freedom/liberty to worship the Lord. When we do this we look radically different from the world. We don't meet on Sunday to worship the Lord because it's our cultural duty or our religious requirement, but because we get to come into the presence of God as a Church. On one hand, we can be thankful we are able to record our services for those who have real medical needs or work jobs that require them to work on Sundays which keep them from attending worship services. However, if we watch the service online because it is more convenient for us, we prove we don't have a biblical understanding of church and why we gather with one another. Honoring the Sabbath Day means we publically worship God with the Church! Furthermore, we spend the rest of the day in holy rest unto the Lord. Even as I finished this sermon, I told my children to pick up the house so we can watch the Super Bowl today. I didn’t direct them to the Lord’s Sabbath rest, but a mere game that does not have eternal significance. I failed to point them to the Lord. So will the rest of our day be spent in holy rest worshipping the triune God? Or has Sunday become like every other day minus this hour when we gather for worship? Furthermore, do we prepare for Sabbath throughout the week or do we prepare when the prelude is played? Honoring the Sabbath is beautiful and honorable in the sight of God. It is a wonderful display of worship and pleases our God.

1 Peter 2:12b - Lifestyle Evangelism

1 Peter 2:12 (ESV)

So that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

As we move into our second section, we clearly see how the world responds to this honorable living. They will speak against us as evildoers. Do you notice the certainty of this in the passage? Peter doesn’t write “if they speak against you as evildoers”. No, “when they speak against you as evildoers.” When we abstain from the passions of the flesh (1 Peter 2:11) and live honorably among the Gentiles (1 Peter 2:12) we should expect pushback from the world. Open Doors is a ministry that tracks Christian persecution globally. According to their calculations, 365 million Christians suffer persecution. Of that number, 317 million Christians face very high or extreme persecution. 4,998 Christians were killed last year or 13 per day. 14,766 Christian properties were attacked or 40 per day. Finally, 4,125 Christians were detained. These are only the numbers we are aware of regarding persecution. China has begun to crackdown harder on Christianity. Over the last two years approximately 7,000 churches have been disbanded. Yet, the most notable act of persecution is the Chinese government shutting down Christian schools. They are viewed as brain-washing schools. So, being spoken of as evildoers is the norm for the Christian life. We’ve lived in a nation where we have escaped the persecution and only by the grace of God is that our reality. However, times are quickly changing. I spoke to a church planter who pastors in Pennsylvania a few years ago. He said that there are large amounts of people in his community who are no longer neutral regarding Scripture. They now view the Bible as hate-speech. We should not be surprised if persecution comes our way in the future.

However, despite persecution or the threat of persecution the life of the Christian should be full of great virtue so that when slander comes it will be easy for others to see the slander is false. There is no truth rooted in the slander because the life of the church is closely tied to how Christ desired us to live.

Instead of believing in the slander that we are evildoers, what will happen? The rest of the verse says they will see, or closely observe, our good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. Our living out the faith as a church is an act of evangelism itself, but it is not the whole act of evangelism.

In the 1990’s there was a movement among Evangelicals called “lifestyle evangelism”. The basic premise was found in this quote attributed to Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times. Use words if necessary.” Unfortunately, this became a quick slogan for people to not actually share the Gospel using words, but to live a Christian life. Though it is certainly admirable, this approach misses the point of evangelism - to actually share the Gospel. Furthermore, Francis never said these words, nor can they be found in Church History. He actually said this as he instructed fellow co-workers:

The preacher must first draw from secret prayers what he will later pour out in holy sermons; he must first grow hot within before he speaks words that are in themselves cold.

We must keep in mind that we are called to live holy lives unto the Lord AND we are called to share the Gospel with others. Scripture does not state that living a Gospel-centered life is good enough regarding evangelism. As Scripture testifies in James 2:18:

James 2:18 ESV

18 But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

Certainly they should see Christ in us as we the church live honorably in their midst AND as we share the Gospel with them freely. In all reality, non-believers will not read Scriptures unless they are drawn to them by the Holy Spirit. What then will they see? A church living out the Gospel in front of their very eyes.

What will be the result? There will be some who come to faith and will glorify God on the day of visitation. The day of visitation can be understand in broad terms. This day refers to the day the Spirit visits a person’s heart and opens it up so they can hear the Gospel. On this day, the heart is softened and becomes a garden ready to receive the implanted word of God. This day of visitation also speaks of the Day when Christ returns and brings His bride before His Father claiming them as righteous and holy.

So what do we do? First, we pray for the Lord to open the hearts of those who do not know Christ personally. We pray for our family and friends. We plead that God would open their hard hearts so they could be saved for His glory. We live the Gospel in their midst and we share when an opportunity is given.

Second, we pray for our community, the city of Eden, to come to know the Lord Jesus. In this prayer, we maintain a kingdom mentally. Lord, bring them to faith and place them in God-centered, Gospel-centered, Bible-centered churches even if that is not FPC. In this we follow the example of Samuel Davies. Samuel Davies was a Presbyterian pastor in the 1700s. He served in Hanover County, Virginia and was known as a powerful evangelist. Davies always maintained a kingdom perspective. There were many a people who joined other churches in the area and said their conversion came from listening to Davies preach. He never forced them to join his church, but kept a kingdom perspective and so should we. We pray for the community of Eden to come to know the Lord Jesus and we share the great Gospel of God with them.

Third, we live honorably despite the slander knowing that in our living in this manner is an act of true worship and true witness to the world. Here they will see the Gospel lived out in their midst. They will see a broken people who have been redeemed by Christ loving one another by the power of the Spirit and it will be beautiful to them.

Conclusion

As we wrap up these two verses over the course of two sermons, we understand that we must abstain from the passions of the flesh and live honorably unto the Lord in front of a watching world. Make no mistake, your nonbelieving family, friends, neighbors, and community members do watch how you live. They are closing observing our lives. Let us be found faithful living honorably for the glory of God in this world. Let our lives be different than those around us.

John Piper wrote an article on how he preaches. Here is what he said at the end,

If you're used to a twenty-minute, immediately practical, relaxed talk, you won't find that from what I've just described.

I preach twice that long; I do not aim to be immediately practical but eternally helpful; and I am not relaxed.

I stand vigilantly on the precipice of eternity speaking to people who this week could go over the edge whether they are ready to or not. I will be called to account for what I said there.

That's what I mean by preaching.

The same intensity, focus, and goal that Piper brings to the pulpit is the same type of intensity we should bring to the world as we live among them. There are folks in our lives who are on the precipice of eternity. Today or this week they might push into eternity. They will most likely never read Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, but they should see the Gospel lived out as we live biblically ethical and attractive in front of them. Let us not take this for granted. Let us fervently live out the faith WITH one another knowing that we are the aliens of God living in front of a watching world.