Response
Notes
Transcript
Response
Response
1 Peter 1:10–17 “Concerning this salvation,21 the prophets22 who predicted the grace that would come to you23 searched and investigated carefully. They probed24 into what person or time25 the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ26 and his subsequent glory.27 They were shown28 that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things angels long to catch a glimpse of. Therefore, get your minds ready for action29 by being fully sober, and set your hope30 completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.31 Like obedient children, do not comply with32 the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance,33 but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”34 And if you address as…”
Exordium.
Introduce, pray.
Introduction, manners, proper response...
Narratio
We’re in part 5 of our series on the book of 1 Peter, in a series’s we’re calling “scattered”
Today we’re going to be looking at chapter 1, verses 10-17
And in the first 9 chapters of this letter we learn that peter is writing to what he calls the “scattered” churches.
The chosen ones, scattered in Pontus Galatia cappadocia Asia and bythinia.
And as peter opens up his letter, he tells his audience that they are part of something special.
He tells them that they have been set apart in the world.
And even though theyre suffering persecution, even though they are being ridiculed for their faith, even though their lives are not very fun right now, they still have reason to rejoice.
Because they’re in Christ, they’re receiving something more precious than silver, more precious than gold.
You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,
because you are attaining the goal of your faith—the salvation of your souls.
Partitio
In our text today, peter is going to explain just how big of a deal that salvation is. And then he’s going to tell the scattered churches how they ought to respond to their salvation.
I think most of us can recognize that the gospel of Jesus Christ is a big deal. That god did something truly incredible when he sent his son into the world, to dwell among us.
To suffer on the cross and take on the penalty for our sins, to lay in the tomb for 3 days, and to be raised again, and seated at the right hand of the father in heaven.
I think most of us get it. That’s a big deal.
But how do we, then, properly respond to such an amazing act of grace and mercy?
How does the scattered church respond to the gospel?
The big idea this morning
The proper response to the gospel is
Active hope
Obedient holiness
And reverent faithfulness
Confirmatio
If you have your bibles, turn with me to 1 peter 1 10
Concerning this salvation, the prophets who predicted the grace that would come to you searched and investigated carefully.
They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory.
peter here is talking about how all through the Old Testament, time and time again, god spoke through the prophets, and promised that one day he would send his anointed king to redeem god’s people and rule over all the earth.
We Just got done going through a series on the book of Jeremiah recently. And the prophet Jeremiah said in chapter 23
“I, the Lord, promise that a new time will certainly come when I will raise up for them a righteous branch, a descendant of David. He will rule over them with wisdom and understanding and will do what is just and right in the land.
Under his rule Judah will enjoy safety and Israel will live in security. This is the name he will go by: ‘The Lord has provided us with justice.’
But his is just one of over 300 prophecies in the Old Testament.
Think about that for a second. There are over 300 different times and places in the Old Testament that predict, and point forward to the coming of the messiah.
300 times where God says I’m going to send my chosen king, he’s going to redeem my people, he’s going to be from the family lineage of king David, he’s going to be born in Bethlehem, he’s a going to ride in to jerusalem on a donkey, he’s a going to suffer and be put to death.
And so from the time of the exile in Babylon, all the way up until the time of Jesus, the number one question of the day was “who is it going to be?”
And people would pop up all the time, claiming to be the messiah, and everyone wondered, is this him? Is this the one?
Because here’s the thing, the prophets predicted a lot of things about who and what the messiah was going to be.
And it wouldn’t have been that hard for anybody to fulfill some of them.
Lot’s of people were descended from David. Lot’s of people were born in Bethlehem. Lot’s of people rode donkeys.
But when are we going to see the real deal? And how are we going to know?
In acts chapter 5, the early Christian’s are being put on trial by the Pharisees, because they keep going around claiming that their leader Jesus was in fact the one who fulilled all 300 prophecies, and he proved it when he rose from the dead.
And the Pharisees and temple leaders are like, stop it/ Stop going around claiming that Jesus was the messiah.
And right in the middle of the trial, this guy, gamalial, stands up and he says this:
Acts 5:36-39
Acts 5:36-39
For sometime ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about 400 men joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it. After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census, and incited people to follow him in revolt. He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered. So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, it will come to nothing, but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found fighting against God.” He convinced them,
He’s like, look we have new people claiming to be the messiah all the time. If it’s fake, then we don’t need to worry about it. And if it’s true, then it’s probably not a good idea to be against them.
They probed into what person or time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and his subsequent glory.
Everybody wanted to know, who and when the messiah was going to be.
They were shown that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things angels long to catch a glimpse of.
I need you to really take a moment and think about the gravity of that verse.
Even the angels long to catch a glimpse of the gospel.
If you played a game of “would you rather” with an angel of the lord.
And you asked the angel would you rather stay an angel, with the wings and the eyes, and circling around the throne room of god. And all the glory and majesty that comes with being a literal angel.
Would you rather do that, or, would you rather be a Christian in the world. Sitting in a church in cappadocia. Sitting in a church in Nebraska.
He would choose the second one.
And if the gospel is that valuable that sought after. Then again,. I ask you, what’s the proper response?
Our big idea,the proper response to the gospel is Active hope, obedient holiness, and reverent faithfulness.
Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
Active hope
In that verse, peter uses a turn of a phrase, he literally says “gird up the loins of your mind”
This is athlete language.
if you can imagine, in the first century, they didn’t have athletic shorts, or yoga pants.
They wore big flowy robes.
And if you were an Olympic athlete, you would gather up all of the excess robe material and tuck it up into your belt, to get ready to run.
Being fully sober, set your hope on Christ
Again, this is athlete language. This is the word you use to describe an athlete who is 100% dedicated to his training
He can’t afford to skimp on his diet, to go out and get drunk on wine.
He can’t afford to take a day off from training
He is sober, and dedicated, and singularly focused on his training
And that’s a the type of hope that we as followers of jesus are supposed to have
Active hope
Active hope is a very different thing than passive hope
if you’re stranded on a deserted island
Active hope will keep you alive
Passive hope will get you killed
Active hope on a deserted island means that you have hope that someone is coming to rescue you
And because of that, you’re going to do everything in your power to survive, and catch the notice of the rescuers
You’re going to build a shelter, and make a fire, and gather food, and make a signaling device for the airplanes to see, because you have hope
Passive hope means you sit beneath a coconut tree and say “I sure hope someone comes to get me”
Transition: our response to the gospel, we ought to have active hope, 2) we ought to have obedient holiness
Obedient holiness
Like obedient children, do not comply with the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance,
but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct,
The word holy means “set apart”
Reserved for a special purpose
I used the example a few weeks ago, of the fancy dishes that only get used on special occasions.
Those are “set apart” dishes. They’re reserved for a special purposed
And One of the things that naturally happens to people when they are set apart for a special purpose, is that they act differently
Like obedient children, don’t be like everyone else.
Because god set you apart for something better
The United States marines
The marines have a level of standards and discipline and obedience that is unmatched in all of the different branches of the military
And as an army soldier, it pains me for those words to even grace my lips, but at the same time, I recognize it’s absolutely true
In almost any facet, the marines just do it better.
They march better, their customs and courtesies are more strict, their uniforms look nicer, their physical fitness standards are higher.
Why is that?
part of it has to do with the fact that THEY are taught that they’re different.
What’s the recruiting slogan? The few, the proud.
That’s the mentality.
What would it look like for Us as followers of christ to adopt that type of mentality.
What would it look life if we woke up every morning and thought to ourselves, I get the pleasure of being a part of something incredible
I get to participate with God in the redemption of the world
I get to be part of a set apart people.
I am a part of a holy people.
And because I am set apart, I am going to choose to be obedient.
That’s important. We’re not holy because of our obedience, we’re obedient because we’ve been made holy.
Paul says in Ephesians 4,
I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called,
Proper response to the Gospel: Active hope, obedient holiness.
Reverent faithfulness
Peter says in verse 17
And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary residence here in reverence.
Live out your time in exile in reverence.
The NIV says “in reverent fear”
As we live here in exile, as the scattered church, waiting for the return of Christ we’re supposed to spend our time living in fear of the lord.
I’m sure a lot of you have probably heard or read that phrase “fear of the lord” at one point or another.
The beginning of wisdom is to fear the Lord, and acknowledging the Holy One is understanding.
And I think it’s one of those phrases that doesn’t come across right in our culture.
I’ve heard a lot of people explain it in a lot of different ways.
One of the ways that makes sense to me,
When I was a kid, my parents got me a little 22 rifle to teach me how to shoot.
and one of the things they wanted to do was show me the importance of respecting that rifle
so they set up a full, unopend pop can out on the fence post and shot it.
And of course the pop can exploded and it was really cool,
but they were like, look, we showed you how this pop can explodes ,becasue we want you to take it seriously. This is a weapon, and if you don’t respect it, it can do some serious damage, even though it’s just a little 22.
In one sense you could say there was a fear element
but the goal wasn’t for me to be afraid to shoot the rifle.
it wasn’t a scare tactic to make me not want to shoot the rifle, so it wasn’t fear in that sense
But it was a type of fear, that’s probably better stated as respect.
and when we talk about “fear of the lord” that’s the same kind of idea.
Application
When we live with that type of attitude toward God, it changes the way we do things
Not out of obligation, but out of respect for the amazing creator who made us
Example, preaching, praying to handle God’s word faithfully, heavy responsibility
Peroratio
Big Idea: God has given us a gift of salvation that is precious, and valuable.
Our Proper response is Active Hope, Obedient Holiness, and reverent faithfulness.
