1 Peter 2

Intro

We are going to continue

Going through 1 Peter

Before we get into any book

I always like to give you guys some background

On why any book is written

The book of first and second peter were both written by

WHO

Peter good job

If you know your bible

This is the same Peter that was one Jesus closest diciples

Same Peter that walks on water

Same Peter that cuts a mans ear off to protect Jesus

Same Peter that also denies Jesus 3 times

Same Peter that Jesus tells he will build his church upon

Scholars believe that Peter wrote the book

Sometime between WHEN??? 62-64 A.D.

Which most scholars belive was only a few years before Peter was matyerd for his faith

And he was primarily writing to scattered Christians

likely in WHERE?? Modern day Turkey

Around this time mass persecution of Christians hadn’t happened in Rome YET

But it was starting to become more difficult

Alot of them were experiencing

Social rejection Insults and slander Economic hardship Family tension Increasing pressure from Roman culture

Overall scholars belive that Peter simply wanted to encourage early Christians to continue in their walk of faith

Later over time they would come deeply persecuted

By a certain Roman emperor WHO???? Nero

Today as we look at the book I want to just look at chapter 1

You will learn as we go through this book

There is alot of content

And honeslty I would encourage you

Read, read, read this book on your own

Because I could do an entire series just on Chapter 1 of this book

But we aren’t going to do that

You will learn that as we go through it

Its all about your walk with God

When I walk with Jesus how should i live?

How should I act?

How should I think?

These are all things that this book tackles so well

So to get us started off today

we are going to be looking at chapter 2 of 1 Peter

There isn’t like an over all theme

1. Let your hunger guide your heart

1 Peter 2:1–5 “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor. And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.”

How many of you guys have ever heard of the Tour de France

The Tour de France is the largest and most prestigious

Cycling event in the world

image the superbowl, but bycling

every year, around 176 cyclist

bike this 2300 mile event

chopped up into different sections

there are flat sections

Mountain sections

Hilly sections

Time trials

In total the event takes about 22-23 days to complete

with only 2 days of rest in there

That means that these cyclist

legit bike through the night / take small breaks throughout the days

On average riders can burn around 6,000 to 8,000 calrories in a day

That averages to burning around 240-480 calories every hour

That being said

One thing that the cyclists

Have to do

eat constantly as they ride

One professional cyclist once said

"Your job is to pedal and eat. If you stop eating, eventually you stop pedaling."

Now I want you to image

imagine being one of these bikers

And you are going through your race

And you didn’t pack a single ounce of food with you

Not only that

But you don’t except food from anyone as you go

How far do you think you are going to get??????

Not far at all?

You are gonna pass out

Not make it

Its going to be rough

Why do I want you to image this

Why do i want you to think about it

In our scripture

Peter is talking about us living for God

And is uses this analogy

He compares us having a hunger for God

in the same way that a baby cry for milk when they are hungry

He then explains that

We are what the bible calls:

“Living stones”

apart of the temple that God is building

And when we spend time with the Lord Lord

We are essentially dwelling in this temple with God

I believe after seeing this

It is evident and clear that

God is wanting to build us into something amazing

We are living stones that God is moving and using

But If you notice

right before that

Peter says

We need to have a hunger and thirst for God

Here is what I want you to hear

God uses our hunger for his good

If you you remember in my above point

I said

Let you hunger guide your heart

The truth is we can be used by God

But we gotta stay hungry

just like those bikers

If they just decided

“oh we don’t want to eat”

They won’t be able to do the task at hand

Why does this matter so much???

it matters because so many of us go through life

God use me

God I want to do things for you

But we don’t have that REAL hunger

God I am going to seek you in prayer

God I am going dive into your word because I want to know you better

God i am going to surround myself with other beleivers

God I am going to take steps of faith because I beleive your word

Have any of you guys ever been really hungry before

and you get presented with food

What do you do?

Stack that plate with so much food

Some of us need to change things in our life

because we have lost our hunger

The living stones

That God is making us into are weak

2. The Path of Jesus includes rejection

1 Peter 2:6–10 “As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.” And, “He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them. But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.””

How many of you guys know who that is?

Tom Brady

Tom Brady to this day

is considered one of these greatest quarterbacks

In football history

Won 7 Superbowls

And has been in 10 super bowls

He has been awarded 5 MVP’s from his super bowls

In his career Tom Brady threw for 89,214 passing yards

(At the time was the NFL all time record)

649 touchdown passes

(Also an all time record when retired)

Still to this day

251 career regular-season wins as a starting quarterback

Most in NFL history

Why do I say all of this

Not because I just want you guys to like Tom Brady

But I think it’s funny when I think about my perspective on him

I really like Tom Brady

And I think he is a great football player

But at the time I absolutley hated him

I could not stand him

He drove me nuts

And could you guess why???

Because he was good

Just like many other people disliked him and the patriots

Every year it would be him and the Patriots in the Super bowl

And even though he was this great athlete, I didn’t like him

For many football fans the past few years it has been

The Philidelphia Eagles

Or the Kansas City Chiefs

When teams or people are good

There is this rejection by so many that follows

In our scripture

Peter is talking about:

God creating this temple

And he says that Jesus is the cornerstone

If you know anything about building

Then you know what Peter is really saying

Is that Jesus holds it all together

When you build, the cornerstone is what keeps everything together

Jesus is that for us spiritually

He is the center point of the belief in all of Christianity

NOW

THATS NOT ALL HE SAYS

He then goes on to explain that

though he is the cornerstone

The builders rejected him

And it says that

These people stumble

And choose not to obey God’s word

I think this is such a powerful picture that Peter paints

Because if we follow the life of Jesus

rejection always finds a way to follow him

And though he is this perfect being

the embodiment of God himself in the flesh

people still choose to reject him

I gave my example at the begnning

Because humans have this trait

Whenever something is good or great

We find a way to resent it

Or we find a way to reject it

I am not comparing Tom Brady AND JESUS together lol

But the truth is

WE COME UP WITH RESAONS TO RESENT ANYTHING

even something so perfect as Jesus

in our brokeness we resort to rejection

Here is what I want you to here

Faithfulness to Jesus will sometimes cost you acceptance from others.

Just as people reject Jesus

There will be people that will reject you

because of Jesus

I think it is hard for us to understand

Living in America

We live in a nation that is still predominately Christian

But there are parts of the world

Being a Christian is not accepted

People that experience real struggle

Even persecution

Because of following Jesus

So as you go through life

I pray that none of us face that

But we get to make a choice

We are going to follow Jesus no matter what????

Regardless of anything around

Regardless of what our friends think or do

Regardless of what our teammates on our sports team do

Even regardless of what our own family thinks about Jesus

Is he truly the Lord and king of your life???

Let me give you one more scripture with this point

1 Peter 2:11–12 “Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.”

Just like we talked about last week

Peter reiterates again

that we are meant to live set apart

That we are temporary residents

When when their are people that reject Jesus

Are the person that will stand out

because even more than just looking different

Peter tells us that it makes a difference

People see that

And it draws people closer to God

3. Authority is to be followed

1 Peter 2:13–17 “For the Lord’s sake, submit to all human authority—whether the king as head of state, or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone, and love the family of believers. Fear God, and respect the king.”

How many of yall know who this is

That is Thumper

Who knows what classic disney movie thumper is from

Bambi / Came out in 1941

Throughout the bambi story

Thumper is the sort of sidekick of bambi

And only the first portion of the movie

Thumper says to this day

One of the most iconic lines in Disney history

Does anyone know?

He says: "If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all."

I always grew up with my mom saying this

And it is something that has always stuck with me

because there are moments when people do or say really hurtful things

But there is lesson to be taught

“If you don’t have anything nice to say. don’t say it at all”

WHY DO I SAY THIS

In our scripture Peter shifts gears

He starts talking about living Godly

Not just in our actions

But explains how to do it in our society

In our world

Peter says

“For the Lord’s sake”

“Submit to all human authority”

But I read that I wonder

There are alot of people who don’t Lead and honor the Lord

And they don’t say and do nice things

The point that Peter is trying to make here

Is not that we should trust everything

A do whatever our goverment tells us to do

But he is telling us to honor the rules and authority that have been put in place

As you would honor the Lord

Because the truth is

God has allowed these people to have authority

“Do they do it imperfectly?”

Abosolutley

“Do they Lead to honor him?”

Most of the time Absolutley not

But I belive Peter is trying to make the point

If we really want to stick out

If we really want to represent the Lord

Than we will do what Thumper says

We are going to keep our mouth shut even if we are mad

Because in a broken world

If someone hits you

You hit them back

If someone lies to you

You get revenge

If some steals from you. you still something back from them

You respond to sin, with sin right back

Now does that mean that we just blindly follow all the time

No

there are levels of persecution that we should not stand for

We need to stand on the truth of God still

Here is what I want you hear

Our response to authority reveals our resemblance to Christ.

How we choose to respond, shows how we want to resemble Christ

For you it may not be the government yet

But its your parents

Your teachers

There is authority that is there

And we are called to obey that authority

Even in their brokenness

4. Love even through cruelty

1 Peter 2:18–25 “You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment. Of course, you get no credit for being patient if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.”

This is very similar to our last point

But I love Peter explains this and unpacks it for us

Peter explains that there is cruelty in this world

There are people who will do harmful things

Hurtful things

Things that do not glorify the Lord at all

BUT he brings the focus right back to Jesus

He says:

“if you are beaten for doing wrong. But if you suffer for doing good and endure it patiently, God is pleased with you. For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you.”

Christ was completley blameless

He never sinned a single time

and Yet he paid the price for every single sin

Not Just by crucifixion

But he was beating

Whipped

Mocked

Spit on

He had a crown of thorns pushed into his skull

Blood gushed down has face

As he sophicated on the cross

Thanks Adam I know what Jesus did for me

Here is what I want you to here

We suffer as sinners, Jesus suffered in innocence

I want you to hear me when I say this

This is not me casting guilt

This is not me tearing us down

But I think that fact that

SOME

Not all but SOME of the hardships that face

Come from our own sin

But Jesus, never sinned

The Bible tells us that he was holy and blameless

Yet he was the one that got put on that cross

Not you, not me

But what I think that is even more important for us to understand

Is not just that Jesus was innocent

But its to use him as our example for how to live

Peter says:

He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly.

SO people will tear us down

People will act out in cruelty

And that fairness is not there

But Jesus modeled for us

Even more so

Someday God will judge

And the Bible tells us that he will judge fairly

What it looks like to act in love

even when others don’t want to act in love back?