Chosen
Notes
Transcript
Intro:
Easter Eggs- Set Apart
PETER - Background
PETER - Background
Peter and Andrew were fishermen in a little town off of the northern coast of the Sea of Galilee called Bethsaida,
Peter was married
Peter was brought to Jesus by Andrew, his brother
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Jesus was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which means Christ).
Jesus called Peter to follow Him and learn to be fishers of men
Peter became one of the twelve disciples and was one of the three apostles closest to Jesus
Peter’s original name was Simon
Both Peter (Greek) and Cephas (Aramaic) mean rock
He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John. You shall be called Cephas” (which means Peter).
Peter was a natural leader, and often spoke for the other apostles
Peter was bold: quick to speak and act
he was the only apostle who dared to walk on the water to Jesus
At times, he trusted himself too much
he rebuked jesus when he said death on the cross was near
And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.”
Before Pentecost, Peter denied Jesus in the presence of a few people by a fire,
but after Pentecost, this uneducated fisherman spoke boldly to a great crowd in Jerusalem
As a result of this new spiritual power, 3,000 were saved in one day
Peter did miracles in Jesus’ name
Lame man by the gate beautiful
Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico.
In a town named Lydda, Peter healed a cripple named Aeneas.
As a result, all in Lydda and Sharon turned to Christ
in Joppa, Peter raised Dorcas (or Tabatha) from the dead
Peter also helped lead the Jerusalem church in missions
He prayed for the believers in Samaria to be filled with the Spirit
God led him to Cornelius to preach the gospel
while he was still preaching, the Holy Spirit filled all those there
what was later called the Gentile Pentecost
Throughout his life, peter suffered from persecution
Imprisoned 2-3 times
Beat
plots to kill him
Jesus prophesied that Peter would die a cruel death
When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”
This interaction with Jesus speaks to Peters calling and his destiny
called to shepherd
destined to die
The roman emperor Nero ordered Peter to be crucified
Peter felt unworthy to die like Jesus
So he asked to be crucified upside down
Sufferings of Christ is one one of the major themes of 1 Peter
But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.
Authorship
Authorship
Peter states that the letter is from him
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
Silas helped him write this first letter
I’m sending this brief letter to you by Silas, a most dependable brother. I have the highest regard for him.
Peter’s second letter was probably written without his help.
the Greek is less polished and more what we would expect from a relatively uneducated fisherman
Peter was likely around 80 years old when he wrote this letter,
the letters were written around six years apart
Peter probably wrote both letters from Rome,
referred to symbolically as Babylon
John also refers to to Rome as Babylon in Revelation,
known for its sin and rebellion against the One True God
Audience
Audience
Scattered Believers
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
other versions say “strangers in the world, scattered...”
We talked about this same group of people when we looked at the book of James,
he wrote to the same scattered believers
These scattered Christians are the result of those that fled from persecution after Stephen’s Death
And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.
To those who are elect exiles
A. We are God’s chosen people
A. We are God’s chosen people
Peter wrote this letter to God’s elect.
Elect means “chosen.”
This word elect is an important word early in this letter from Peter.
Why? Scattered believers were struggling.
Persecution had stolen their homes
and possessions
and had separated them from their families.
As they worked day by day,
rich unbelievers stole the wages of some,
and murdered others (James 5:6).
Suffering, they needed to recall that God chose them,
and they belonged to Him.
Likewise, suffering believers today may feel worthless.
It might be you today
In times of suffering and fiery trials we may ask,
“Who cares?
What value is my life?
What can I do in such hard circumstances?
Who knows that I am here?”
The word of Peter comes to us saying,
above all things,
let us remember that we are God’s chosen ones.
He is our Father,
and we belong to Him.
He knows our troubles.
We are God’s elect-
His chosen,
beloved children.
But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law,
so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus.
He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will,
For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”
See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are.
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
What a cure for our low sense of worthlessness and wilting self-esteem!
We are special
God chose us to become members of His family.
Wow!
What an encouragement!
God chose us!
This truth in 1 Peter 1:1 strengthens us
It enables us to lift up our heads
and stand up straight
with a song in our hearts-
even in the darkest times.
This is the type of truth that enabled Paul and Silas to sing in jail at midnight
while their backs were bleeding from a beating (Acts 16:22-25).
The crowd rose up together against them, and the chief magistrates tore their robes off them and proceeded to order them to be beaten with rods.
When they had struck them with many blows, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to guard them securely;
and he, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them;
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion
B. We are God’s chosen aliens, scattered on the earth
B. We are God’s chosen aliens, scattered on the earth
To God’s elect, strangers in the world, exiles, aliens
In the Greek, the grammar of 1 Peter 1:1 is clear.
The word elect (chosen) is an adjective
that describes the noun aliens (exiles) of the scattering (diaspora) in the world.
Aliens, foreigners, or immigrants are common these days.
Aliens usually refers to people who have moved
from a poor or troubled nation
to a more peaceful, prosperous nation.
Often, aliens form their own community or cultural group
in the nation to which they move.
little china, mexico town, polish district
For example, in many big cities of the earth,
there are groups of aliens that form their own church
and worship in their native languages.
Thus they maintain their culture and values,
while living in a country that offers more privileges than the one they left behind.
In contrast, Peter writes about aliens who are rich citizens of heaven
while living in the poverty of earth.
It is very important for us believers to remember that we are
Exiles,
strangers,
aliens,
foreigners,
and sojourners in the world.
Why?
Because we need to maintain our heavenly values
and not be absorbed into the sinful culture of the world.
We are in the world, but not of the world (John 15:19; Rom. 12:2; 1 Cor. 7:31).
and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away.
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
“If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
So let us live as part of a community of believers
that shares God’s values.
Peter has much to say about how this attitude
of being aliens
affects our relationships in the world,
with God, with others,
and toward suffering.
test yourself.
Do you feel at home in the world?
Do you hate the sinful values that the world loves?
Are you like Lot,
or like his wife and sons-in-law?
Lot was “a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men
(2 Pet. 2:7-8).
and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men
(for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),
Today, in some nations,
the statistics on divorce,
use of pornography,
forms of entertainment,
and sexual sins
are the same in the church as they are in the world.
This is because the love of many believers has grown cold.
Many who claim to be followers of Jesus
are not living as aliens in the world.
Rather, they are living as residents of the world,
and foreigners to heaven
and God’s values.
They are deceived.
For if we feel at home on earth,
we will not enjoy the holiness of heaven.
C. We are chosen by the “foreknowledge of God the Father”
C. We are chosen by the “foreknowledge of God the Father”
To those who are elect exiles of the Dispersion... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
The Greek word for foreknowledge is pro-gin-osko
means “to know before.”
A medical doctor examines a patient,
and gives a prognosis,
describing the health of the patient
-present and future.
The prognosis (foreknowledge) of God for all believers is salvation (John 3:16).
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
God’s knowledge is complete,
and has always been complete.
He does not know more today
than He knew 10,000 years ago.”
He is perfect in all His ways.
He does not grow in knowledge like humans.
God is not like a student who graduates from one grade and goes on to the next.
So when the Scriptures speak of God’s foreknowledge,
it means the same as God’s knowledge
-which is past, present, and future,
all at once and always the same.
Before God created the earth,
He foreknew that humans would sin.
Before the Creation,
God foreknew that Jesus would die for our sins.
Jesus is the Lamb of God,
slain before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20; Rev. 13:8).
Before you were born, he knew you
and he chose you
he loved you
he loved you so much that he died for you
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He chose us,
the question is do you chose Him?
D. We are chosen “through the sanctifying work of the Spirit”
D. We are chosen “through the sanctifying work of the Spirit”
in the sanctification of the Spirit,
In salvation, from start to finish,
the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives.
The Spirit convicts us of sins,
even before we receive Jesus (John 16:8).
And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:
Then, as we repent of our sins and accept Jesus,
the Spirit begins the process of making us holy.
Holiness isn’t the process of making us self righteous
our series is called set apart
that’s the definition of being holy
being set apart by God
being set apart from the world
being set apart for God
Holiness begins at the new birth, or salvation.
The Spirit imparts new life as He enters us.
He enables us to receive God’s “divine nature”
This is holiness or sanctification
we experience by the Spirit,
as we become God’s children
-members of His family.
As we grow in grace,
the Spirit guides us to grow in holiness,
in our attitudes and actions,
and in our condition
-purity of heart.
As Peter says, we “grow up” in our salvation as the spirit enables. (1 Pet. 2:2).
Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation—
So we say that the Spirit’s work of holiness in us is progressive.
It begins at the new birth
and grows, at Christ’s return.
God does not expect us to be holy without His help.
We are chosen “through the sanctifying work of the Spirit” (1 Pet. 1:2, 13- 25).
E. We are chosen “for obedience to Jesus Christ and through sprinkling by his blood”
E. We are chosen “for obedience to Jesus Christ and through sprinkling by his blood”
for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood:
chosen for obedience
Even in his greeting, Peter emphasizes the responsibility of believers.
We are chosen to obey Christ,
by submitting to the Spirit.
As we abide in Christ
and obey Him,
His blood keeps us clean.
Here Peter emphasizes the same truth as John:
Obedience to Christ is united to cleansing from sin.
John wrote,
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
Cleansing by the blood
comes to those who walk in the light
and in the Spirit.
Likewise, Peter puts obedience and cleansing by the blood in the same verse.
There are three repeated events in the Old Testament where blood is sprinkled.
First, when a high priest was set aside,
the high priest was sprinkled with blood,
ordained for service (Exod. 29; compare Heb. 9:11-14).
Second, as a sign of cleansing,
when a leper was declared clean by the priests,
they sprinkled him with the blood from an animal sacrifice (Lev. 14:2-7).
Third, each year on the Day of Atonement
the high priest sprinkled blood several places (Lev. 16:14).
And he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
Atonement
As God’s chosen people,
we enjoy cleansing by the blood
as we obey the teaching of Jesus.
This is possible as we walk in the Spirit, not the flesh
so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
F. We are chosen to have abundant grace and peace
F. We are chosen to have abundant grace and peace
May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Recall that Peter is writing to encourage suffering believers.
They were lacking in many things on earth.
Yet even in difficult times,
God offers His children an abundance of spiritual blessings.
There are 21 letters in the New Testament.
In the greeting,
all of Paul’s 13 letters
include the words grace and peace.
Also, Peter’s two letters
and 2 John
have grace and peace.
So 16 of the 21 letters of the New Testament
greet believers with grace and peace.
And always in this order.
It is never peace and grace.
It is always grace and peace.
Why? Because grace leads to peace
People are looking for peace,
in a lot of places,
such as human relationships
or prosperity
or in accomplishments
But the Bible teaches that we find peace
when we discover God’s grace.
God is not stingy.
He does not ration grace and peace.
Our Heavenly Father does not say,
“You can just have a little bit and then no more.
Come back another day
and I might give you more grace and peace later.”
Rather, God gives in abundance.
So Peter begins his letter to scattered,
struggling believers
-and to us-
with a blessing.
God has some delightful surprises for us.
He Chose us
He has some ways to strengthen us.
So do not just focus on your problems.
But let us fix our eyes on the God
who has chosen us.
He is for us and with you.
He will give us all the grace and peace we need.
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