Peculiar People - 1: Called to A Living Hope

Introduction

Good morning, would you turn with me in your Bibles to 1 Peter 1:1-12.

It was recently brought to light in a New York times article that nearly half of the people who ride the bus in New York refuse to pay for it.

Thats over a million people per day who cheat the transit system in one city.

Now, I would be willing to bet that very few of us are surprised that these sort of things are going on.

I mean we all know that there are far far worse things that are regular occurrences in our society.

We live in times where lawlessness, wickedness, and ungodliness are the norm.

Not only the tolerance, but also the promotion of evil is something that is common in our day and age.

It’s reflective of a hopeless and nihilistic society that sees no purpose to life beyond personal gratification, or self fulfillment.

Peculiar People

But Christians have been called to something more.

In 1 Peter 2:9 the Apostle Peter explains just what we as Christians are.

I especially love the way the King James Bible expresses it, in particular because of one word that is used. It says,

1 Peter 2:9 (KJV 1900)

But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:

A peculiar people.

Now generally, being called peculiar is not something to be desired.

It brings to mind people with weird habits, or tendencies maybe even smells.

I know generally if someone were to describe me to someone else, I wouldn’t like it if they said,

“Yeah I know Pastor Nate, he’s kind of peculiar.”

But in this case it is a very good thing.

God’s people have been chosen and set apart from the world.

And because of that we are different:

In who we are,

In how we live,

and In what we hope for.

If you are a Christian, you are peculiar.

That means that you are weird.

Be Weird

The personal finance personality Dave Ramsay went on a rant on his radio show a few years ago.

He was speaking about how it has become normal for people to rack up huge amounts of credit card debt in order to buy things they don’t need.

In that rant he said something sticky.

He said: “Debt is normal, be weird.”

The lesson is clear: When what is normal is people running towards foolishness, wickedness, destruction - be weird.

Today we are beginning a series that will take us to Christmas time.

In this series we will be looking at the book of 1 Peter and exploring how it teaches us to be different:

In who we are,

in how we live,

and in what we hope for.

Worldliness is normal, be weird.

This series is called Peculiar People.

And were going to begin by looking at our passage 1 Peter 1:1-12.

1 Peter 1:1-12

1 Peter 1:1–12 ESV

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 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. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 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. 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.

Exposition

Who (vv. 1-2)

Primary Audience (v.1)

Our passage begins with the Apostle peter addressing his audience.

We read in v. 1:

1 Peter 1:1 ESV

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

This is Peter’s original or primary audience for the letter.

Though Peter’s teaching in this book is applicable to all Christians at all times,

knowing the primary audience can help us to understand the text better.

Good Bible reading takes into account the primary audience of a given passage.

In this case it is Christians “elect exiles” “in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.”

These were regions in what is now Turkey, but was known as Asia Minor in Peter’s day.

Up until the first Roman persecution under Emperor Nero in AD 64,

the majority of persecution towards Christians came from the Jews.

Nero’s brutal persecution of Christians occurred mainly in the city of Rome itself,

but later persecutions were particularly intense in Asia Minor.

From this letter we understand that these churches were already experiencing some persecution,

But Peter was likely trying to prepare them for what was to come.

Before he would become a martyr himself by the order of Nero.

Our Shared Identity (v. 2)

Though the letter is written to first century Christians in Asia Minor,

it is also written for the instruction of all Christians.

We see in verse 2 that we share an identity with these believers that Peter is writing to.

it says that he is writing to elect exiles,

1 Peter 1:2 (ESV)

“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:”

thats all those who have received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.

And we see in this statement how all three persons of the trinity are active in our life as Christians.

We see the Father’s predestinating foreknowledge,

which makes us elect, chosen by God.

We see the Spirit’s sanctification,

through which we are made more and more Holy.

And we see the Son, Jesus Christ - by whom our sins are atoned for, and to whom we are to live in obedience.

Though we are separated by distance and centuries, we share this with our brothers and sisters in Peter’s primary audience.

Born Again to a Living Hope (vv.3-5)

Born Again (v. 3)

Just like them, through faith in Jesus Christ, we have born again to a whole new life.

But as we see in in vv. 3-5, this new life includes a hope and an inheritance.

We read in v. 3.

1 Peter 1:3 ESV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

What Peter praises God for in this passage is that through Jesus’ resurrection of the dead,

we have been born again.

This is the same language that Jesus used when he spoke to Nicodemus in John 3.

Jesus said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

In that conversation Jesus makes it clear that a person is born again through faith in him.

He says in John 3:14–16

John 3:14–16 (ESV)

“the Son of Man [must] be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

That’s what it means to be born again.

Point 1: We Are A People Who Have A Living Hope

But look what he says here in v. 3 of our passage, we have been “born again to a living hope.”

Which takes me to my first point this morning:

1. We are a people who have a living hope!

In the Roman world during Peter’s day there were many different ideas about where someone went after they died.

Two of the most popular worldviews at the time were the epicurean and the stoic philosophies.

The Apostle Paul actually debated with some of these philosophers in Athens in Acts 17.

Both worldviews held to the belief that there was nothing after death, just nonexistence,

much like a modern atheist would believe today.

Most people then and now really aren’t confident about what awaits them after their death.

So for most people: their hope is in this life only,

and it dies with them.

But for those of us who have been born again through faith in Jesus Christ,

we have confidence because our Lord passed through death and is living now!

Following Into Death

One of the scariest videos I’ve ever watched on youtube was one of a group of 20 year old guys hanging out on a dam.

The concrete dam was about 40 feet tall, but the hight wasn’t the scary part.

The scary part was that in the reservoir at the top of the dam was a hole hidden down in the murky water.

A hole that sucked water from the reservoir and shot it out the other side at the base of the dam.

A hole just big enough for a person to fit through.

The first guy got into the water as his friends watched,

swam to the middle of the reservoir,

and was immediately sucked under the water.

After a few nervous moments, the friends heard the first man shout from the other side.

“that was awesome!”

Those young men who were shaking their heads at their friend moments before,

one by one to swam out to the hole themselves.

That first man’s success in passing through the dam, gave his friends hope.

And they followed him into the water.

Baptism

Now they had a choice to enter the water and pass through the dam.

Each of us, whether we want to or not, have to get into the water ourselves.

Unless the Lord Jesus returns in our time, each of us will have to enter death.

But we know someone who not only entered death, but passed through it.

Jesus is our living hope.

Because he died and rose again, we can follow him into death,

sure that he will raise us up on the last day.

This is actually demonstrated in the symbolism of baptism.

When someone is baptized they enter the water, symbolizing death.

But they are then brought out of the water, symbolizing their new life in Christ.

Those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ,

are a people who have a living hope.

A Guaranteed Inheritance (v. 4)

But God in his grace and kindness has also seen fit to give to those who belong to him an inheritance.

We read in our passage,

1 Peter 1:3–4 (ESV)

“he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,”

then look what it says in v. 4,

“to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,”

Point 2: We Are A People Who Have A Guaranteed Inheritance

This takes me to my second point this morning.

2. We are a people who have a guaranteed inheritance.

In Old Testament times the people of Israel, whom God brought out of Egypt, had an inheritance promised to them.

Their inheritance was the promised land of Israel.

God had promised this land first to Abraham,

his descendants took possession of this inheritance hundreds of years later.

But before the Israelites went and conquered the promised land, Moses who led them out of Egypt gave them a warning.

In the book of Deuteronomy, Moses reminded the Israelites of the law of God,

and the covenant agreement God had made with them.

In Deuteronomy 28 Moses shared with them the blessings the Israelites would experience if they kept God’s law in this new promised land.

But he also warned them of the curses they would experience if they rejected the Lord their God and broke his commands not to worship other Gods.

One of those curses would be that they would lose the land that was their inheritance,

in v. 28 Moses warned them, “You shall be plucked off the land that you are entering to take possession of it.”

And thats exactly what happened.

The people of Israel rebelled against the Lord,

they served and worshipped other Gods.

So God used the Assyrian and then the Babylonian empires to take them out of the land that was their inheritance.

Guaranteed

See the inheritance the Israelites received was conditional on their obedience.

But you and I, if we are in Christ by faith, receive a guaranteed inheritance.

Because this inheritance is not guaranteed by our works,

but by Christ’s life, death, and resurrection.

V. 4 of our passage calls it, “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,”

This inheritance is eternal life in a new heavens and earth.

Its actually so magnificent, so glorious that it is indescribable.

1 Corinthians 2:9 tells us “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”

And this is kept in heaven for you, until the day God determines to reveal it.

It is kept in heaven for you, but you are also kept for it.

V. 5 of our passage speaks of those who are in Christ,

1 Peter 1:5 ESV

who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Perseverance of the Saints

I know that there are godly brothers and sisters in Christ who believe that people can lose their salvation.

That those who once had true saving faith, can lose it.

I’m inclined to disagree with that.

Actually I wholeheartedly disagree with that.

Jesus says in John 10:27-29,

John 10:27–29 ESV

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Here in 1 Peter 1:5 we see clearly that it is through God’s power we are being guarded through faith.

Not faith that is somehow drummed up from our own will, it is by God’s power.

This brings to mind a very familiar passage, Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8–9 ESV

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

The question you need to ask yourself is this,

“is saving faith generated from the will of person,

or is it the gift of God?”

We could never achieve our salvation by our own power,

neither could we keep it by our own power.

The preacher Voddie Baucham has I believe the greatest line about how we who are truly saved cannot lose our salvation.

He said those who are saved cannot lose their salvation, “because if we could, we would.”

I don’t know about you,

but knowing that God, by his power,

guards us by faith so that we will receive the inheritance he has kept for us,

that gives me so much peace.

If you have received salvation through faith in Christ,

you have become part of a people who have a guaranteed inheritance.

Faith That is Tested (vv. 6-9)

Knowing, and resting in the fact,

that we are a people who have a living hope,

and a guaranteed inheritance,

strengthens us,

it readies our feet,

to face whatever trials might come our way.

We read in vv. 6-7 of our passage:

1 Peter 1:6–7 ESV

In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

You’ll remember that Peter was writing to churches that were in a region of the Roman empire,

that had been experiencing persecution.

And would experience even more intense persecution in the future.

But because of who they are, and what they hope for,

they can rejoice even though they are being grieved by trials.

Point 3: We Are A People Who Are Refined By Trials

This takes me to my final point this morning. That:

3. We are are people who are refined by trials.

Christians truly are a peculiar people.

We have a peculiar hope,

that because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, we trust that we will also pass through death.

And we expect a peculiar inheritance,

not land, not riches, but something indescribable,

kept in heaven for us.

We are a peculiar people, and because of that we live in a peculiar way.

Where as most people see trials and hardship as meaningless suffering,

we see them as meaningful and God ordained.

That through trials we might be tested and refined.

Refined corporately

Corporately, the church is refined through trials.

Persecution often reveals who in the church is truly saved.

Theres no point in suffering for a faith you don’t have.

Sadly, often times it doesn’t even take persecution.

When I was a youth pastor, I couldn’t tell you how many young people walked away from a faith they once confessed,

just because they began dating a non Christian,

and they wanted to live a life inconsistent with what the scriptures teach.

And it happens so often with adults as well.

That doesn’t mean they had lost their salvation.

I pray that they will genuinely repent and come to true faith in Christ.

I’ve seen it happen many times before.

That’s something that we should really commit to pray for as a church.

That confessions of faith would be genuine,

and that prodigals would return.

Often times, it’s hardship that refines those prodigals.

Refined individually

Because, trials do not only refine the church corporately,

but they also refine us as individuals.

Trials are not fun, they can be painful physically, mentally, emotionally.

They can come from other people, they can come from circumstances, they can even come from our own bodies.

They can leave you, and your loved ones absolutely devastated.

We don’t need to pretend that trials and sufferings are a blessing.

But when those things that most people trust in are stripped away,

health, wealth, friendships, family.

When those things are taken from us, as hard as it might be,

the only thing we can cling to is Jesus.

Through trials we learn that HE IS ALL WE NEED.

Application

We see this in Peter’s words in vv. 8-9,

1 Peter 1:8–9 (ESV)

Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

He is our living hope.

His salvation is our guaranteed inheritance.

And he is worth any trial or suffering.

Do you believe it?

I think so often as Christians,

the reason we want the things the world offers,

the reason we want to live like the world lives,

the reason we don’t want to be weird,

is because we don’t really know what we have.

Hope That Was Anticipated (vv. 10-12)

Look at what vv. 10-12 says,

1 Peter 1:10–12 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. 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.

If you have received salvation through faith in Jesus Christ:

You possess something that the Prophet’s sought out and anticipated.

You know intimately something the angels of heaven only wish they knew.

That God planned from before the foundations of the world to save you through his Son Jesus.

By Christ’s life, his death on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead -

You have a living hope,

you have a guaranteed inheritance,

and because of that you can face the trials that refine you, drawing you near to Jesus.

If you don’t have this living hope beyond this life only,

if you aren’t certain of your inheritance in Jesus Christ.

I want to invite you today, to first count the cost,

faith in Jesus Christ does not mean life is going to be easy,

in fact the scriptures guarantee that wee will have trials.

But count the cost, and then repent of your sins and believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and saviour.

If you would like to talk more about salvation in Jesus Christ I will be available here at the front at the end of the service.

Conclusion

For those of us who have received salvation in Christ,

I want to encourage you to be weird.

be weird in who you are, how you live, and in what you hope for.

Own it, and live it out.

When the world goes one way, we go the other way - towards Christ!

Worldliness is normal - be weird!

We are going to talk about how God teaches us to be weird over the next few months as we continue through our study of 1 Peter.

We are a people who have a living hope.

We are a people who have a guaranteed inheritance.

We are a people who are refined by trials.

We are a peculiar people, lets live like it.