Revelation Intro

“Peter called his readers to fortify their testimonies with two crucial aspects of righteous living: a personal, godly, discipline that is inward and private, and a personal, godly deportment that is outward and public.”

And that is in the arena of a:

1. Pilgram (11)

2. Citizen (13-17)

3. Servant/employee (18-20)

But here is the deal. I cannot be a personal testimony for the cause of Christ or public until my private testimony is what it should be.

I. Private

1 Peter 2:11 KJV 1900

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

-‘I beg you, as those whom I love’.

Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17, p. 121). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

A. Abide

“To abide in Christ is, on the one hand, to have no known sin unjudged and un-confessed, no interest into which He is not brought, no life which He cannot share.”

B. Abstain

Abstain-

its present tense gives the sense ‘continually keep away from sinful desires, do not let yourself indulge in them at any time’.

Such a command implies that inward desires are not uncontrollable but can be consciously nurtured or restrained—a needed rebuke to our modern society which takes feelings as a morally neutral ‘given’ and disparages any who would say that some feelings and desires are wrong

“The knowledge that they do not belong does not lead to withdrawal, but to their taking their standards of behavior, not from the culture in which they live, but from their “home” culture of heaven, so that their life always fits the place they are headed to, rather than their temporary lodging in this world.”

Attention

Long term battle. Not just an overnight fight. When did we first go into the middle east? It was 1988? desert storm? And we are still there. We need to plan on being in this for the long haul.

“These lusts are personified as if they were an army of rebels or guerrillas who incessantly search out and try to destroy the Christians joy, peace and usefulness.” Jmac study bible

“I urge you”

No new sentence begins here in the Greek text

Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17, p. 123). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

II. Personal

Conduct here refers to a day-by-day pattern of life

Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17, p. 123). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

A. Disciple others for Christ

One day in St. Louis, Missouri, a young convert named C. I. Scofield walked into the office of a friend. He found him with a new copy of the Scriptures on his desk and a pencil in his hand. “Why, man, you’re spoiling that beautiful Bible!” exclaimed the young Christian.

His older friend pointed him to Acts 8, where he had underscored the fifth verse, “Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and preached Christ unto them.” Then he had connected by a line to the eighth verse which reads, “And there was great joy in that city.”

Years afterward, Scofield frequently introduced his friend C. E. Paxson as “the man who first taught me to mark my Bible.” The inspiration and instruction that Paxson gave him led to the preparation of the now-famous Scofield Reference Bible with its helpful footnotes and cross-references.

Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 188). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

B. Draw others to Christ

Alexander MacLaren once said, “The world takes its notions of God, most of all, from the people who say that they belong to God’s family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. They see us; they only hear about Jesus Christ.”

Speak evil-

They accused them of a number of crimes, such as practising murder, incest, and cannibalism in their secret church meetings (from expressions such as “love feasts,” “brother and sister,” “eating the body,” and “drinking the blood,” transferred to pagan contexts), and especially of disturbing the peace and good order of the Empire. Thus Tacitus claimed that “They were hated because of their vices” (Ann. 15.44), and Suetonius refers to them as “a class of people animated by a novel and dangerous superstition” (Nero 16.2

Davids, P. H. (1990). The First Epistle of Peter (p. 97). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

Peter argues for a steady course of righteousness that even the pagans will have to approve of in the end.

Davids, P. H. (1990). The First Epistle of Peter (p. 98). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

The point?

“They may see your good works and glorify God on day of visitation.

Matthew 5:16- "Let your light so shine before men…”

Matthew 5:16 KJV 1900

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

They are converted and glorify God because of seeing your good deeds (cf. Matt. 5:16; 1 Pet. 3:15–16

Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17, p. 124). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

I truly believe this day of visitation is Salvation. why? No where in scripture do we see the unsaved glorifying God in any context. also…

Peter gives a specific example of this in 3:1–2, where he says that husbands may be converted when they see the good conduct of their Christian wives. (The unusual word for ‘see’, epopteuō, ‘look upon, and watch’ occurs in the New Testament only here and in 3:2. The word for ‘conduct’ is also the same here and in 3:2.)

Grudem, W. A. (1988). 1 Peter: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 17, pp. 124–125). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

This is why I believe and promote each of you to have a redemptive relationship currently going right now. An unbeliever you can say you have contact with on a regular basis for the sole purpose of leading them to Christ. I have two men I am in continual contact with who both need Jesus and who on a regular basis can…see and hear about my day to day manner of life.

Henry M. Stanley found Livingstone in Africa and lived with him for some time. Here is his testimony: “I went to Africa as prejudiced as the biggest atheist in London. But there came for me a long time for reflection. I saw this solitary old man there and asked myself, “How on earth does he stop here—is he cracked, or what? What is it that inspires him?”

“For months after we met I found myself wondering at the old man carrying out all that was said in the Bible—“Leave all things and follow Me.” But little by little his sympathy for others became contagious; my sympathy was aroused; seeing his piety, his gentleness, his zeal, his earnestness, and how he went about his business. Stanley described Livingstone as a "truly pious man—a man deeply imbued with real religious instincts. His religion … is of the true, practical kind, never losing a chance to manifest itself in a quiet, practical way—never demonstrative or loud. It is always at work, if not in deed, by shining example.”

I was converted by him, although he had not tried to do it.”

Tan, P. L. (1996). Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations: Signs of the Times (p. 737). Garland, TX: Bible Communications, Inc.

Stanley found Christ in Livingston and went on to…

Stanley saw Africa as a challenge, Livingstone as his example and inspiration. Stanley dedicated his life to serving Africa by developing Christianity and civilisation throughout its vast and unexplored interior.

n April he met with Mtesa, the Kabaka (or king) of Uganda. John Hanning Speke had written of Mtesa. Mtesa claimed to be a Muslim having been converted to Islam by an Arab, Muley Bin Salim. Stanley determined to destroy his belief in Islam and teach the Doctrines of Christ. For 12 days Stanley instructed the king from the Old and New Testament, and at the end Mtesa announced that he would follow the Christian Sabbath, and he would instruct that the Ten Commandments be written on a board where everyone could see and study them everyday. Mtesa loaned Stanley canoes and men to explore the Western shores of Lake Victoria.

Colonel Linant de Bellefonds was sent out by General Charles Gordon, Governor of Sudan, to establish communications with Uganda. Stanley entrusted him with a letter to the Daily Telegraph appealing for missionaries to be sent to Uganda. De Bellefonds was murdered in Sudan, but Stanleys letters were discovered concealed in his boot. When they eventually found their way to England and were published by the Telegraph, a huge fund was collected and missionaries were sent out to Uganda where Christianity began to flourish.