Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

It’s truly an honor and a privilege to be standing here before you today.

I’ve been given the very important and humbling task of presenting, teaching and preaching God’s Word to you, that we may all grow as His revelation to us penetrates our hearts.

I possess a great expectation that you will leave here today not merely more knowledgeable, but convicted and encouraged to live your life differently, to see your circumstances in a new light, and to desire greatly progress in Christlikeness.

To begin, I’d like to ask you to open your Bibles and your bulletins to 1 Peter.

Chapter 1, Verses 1 and 2. 1 Peter is a short letter, only 5 chapters long, and you can find it toward the back of your Bible immediately after the books of Hebrews and James…and predictably right before the letter of 2 Peter.

Now, it isn’t often that a preacher will intentionally choose for his sermon the introduction of a letter.

Typically, the theological meat is located in the body of text and not at the very beginning.

But the book of 1 Peter begins a bit differently, and I think it will be very helpful for us to examine what the author wanted to communicate to his audience right at the start.

Author

Unlike the books of Titus and Jude, 1 Peter is named after its author instead of its intended recipient.

This is the same Peter who was called by Jesus to follow Him as a disciple.

The Peter who walked on water with Christ, who vowed to die with Jesus before he would ever deny Him, the same Peter who only hours later repeatedly denied knowing Christ to protect his own skin.

It is also the very same man whom Jesus restored to pastoral leadership before His ascension.

It often helps me to remember that what Peter says and writes comes reinforced by 3 years of experience walking side by side with my Lord and Savior.

Context

Now, the occasion for this first letter from Peter was not a pleasant one.

The Christian church, which had spread rapidly throughout the Roman Empire, was on the verge of incredible persecution under the reign of the Roman Emperor Nero.

Being a Christian in the 1st Century was becoming increasingly difficult and dangerous…and things were going to get far worse before they got any better.

And it is in this context of forthcoming persecution that Peter pens his letter to a group of churches located in modern-day Turkey, which means that when we read 1 Peter, we must first try to understand Peter’s words as they would have been understood by the original intended audience.

And how does Peter start his letter to a scared and increasingly desperate group of Christians facing potential pain, suffering, and death?

Like this:

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

Analysis

Think about that last sentence for a moment.

May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.

It’s possible that the first readers of this letter had the same thought that I had, which is: What do you mean, Peter?

How can you say that?

Considering the deteriorating circumstances, how can you expect them to be at peace?

Much less to have peace in the fullest measure?

Well, to understand how Peter can be so bold as to tell these people to have tremendous peace, we need to understand what he was actually saying in the sentences prior to this one.

And it is for this specific exercise that I’ve included for you in your bulletin a copy of these two verses.

And I did this for a very important reason.

I want you to get involved with the text.

I want you to observe it.

I want you to make markings on it.

I want you to circle words, underline phrases, write down questions.

You see the Word of God penetrates more readily and more powerfully when we see the Bible as more than just words that we gloss over with a cursory reading.

It’s real.

It’s alive and active.

It begs of us to probe it and dig into it, to ask questions of it.

So as I begin to discuss what these verses contain, challenge yourself to actively engage with the Scripture.

Most Bibles are too small and have too little room to do this, so that’s why I put it in your bulletin, and why I gave you plenty of space to work with .

Let’s start from the beginning…”Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.”

In the first century, it was standard procedure to introduce yourself as the author in the opening lines of the letter.

That’s a bit different than how we do things today.

Most often, we wait until the end of our letter to identify ourselves as the author.

Ever get a card in the mail?

And there is no return address listed on the envelope.

When you open that card, what is the first thing you do…besides look for a check?

You skip all the writing and look at the end of the message to see who the card is from?

In my experience, it is usually the signature of one or more of the Melton’s.

But see, Peter saves us this exercise.

And his simple opening phrase actually serves two purposes: Yes, it identifies Peter as the author, but it also reminds the reader of who Peter is and the implications that a letter from him will carry.

Peter is an apostle, which in Greek means “One who is sent forth.”

In Matthew Chapter 10 we see Jesus give his disciples authority over evil spirits and all kinds of diseases, and then He sends them out to preach His message, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

At this point in the gospel of Matthew, the disciples are now referred to as apostles.

It implies being sent out with authority and with a message, and after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension, they were again sent out, this time to spread the Gospel of Christ Jesus to the rest of the world.

As a chosen and commissioned apostle of Christ, Peter spoke with authority.

As Peter started his letter to fellow Christians, he wanted them to know that they could trust what he tells them.

At the end of 1 Peter he writes, “I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God.

Stand firm in it!”

If Peter says it, then we can trust it.

Why?

Because he was a commissioned apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God.

Stand firm in it!

“To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.”

I want you to circle the word “aliens.”

Peter chose this word in particular to express a very important idea.

Christians are aliens.

Not outer-space aliens, but foreigners, temporary residents here on earth.

Dr. John MacArthur explains it this way, “The church is composed of strangers and pilgrims scattered throughout the earth, away from their true home in heaven.”

The church is composed of strangers and pilgrims scattered throughout the earth, away from their true home in heaven

And this brings up an critical point, one that certainly would have been noticed by the original audience.

That point is that our lives here on earth are temporary.

There is an eternity awaiting us in heaven.

Peter is pulling the vision of these Christians away from the world and their circumstances in front of them and up to the God and the eternal reality above them.

He’s intentionally reframing their perspective.

Now, the next eleven words are very, for lack of a better term, controversial.

Not for the truth of the message they contain, but controversial to our pride.

“Who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.”

What does that mean?

What does it mean to be chosen?

And what does it mean to be chosen according to God’s foreknowledge?

These are extremely difficult questions.

Particularly because the purposes of an infinite God cannot be adequately grasped by the minds of finite people.

The answers to these questions inevitably make us uncomfortable.

It attacks our pride.

It attacks the idea of what we believe free will to be.

These are extremely difficult questions.

Particularly because the purposes of an infinite God cannot be adequately grasped by the minds of finite people.

The answers to these questions make us uncomfortable.

It attacks our pride.

It attacks the idea of what we believe free will to be.

And while these questions can’t be treated fully in the limited time that I have today, I’m going to give you my best, biblically-sound synopsis.

It means God ultimately decided who will spend eternity in heaven with Him.

And His decision on who is chosen and who is not was determined before the universe ever came into existence.