1 Peter 1:1-2
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Last week we finished Hebrews.
Today, we will begin a new book.
1 Peter has been on my mind to preach through for a while. Actually, I was between 1 Peter and Hebrews when I chose Hebrews May of last year.
And for me Hebrews was very encouraging, challenging at times, but very good. I pray it was for you as well.
That said I want to explain myself to you and why I choose to preach through books of the Bible verse by verse.
I do this every time I start a new book but I just want to explain it for your benefit and remind you why I feel like this is best. Because at times, it can take a while to go through books of the Bible.
We spent about 11 months walking through Hebrews. Before that we spent between 2 and 3 months working through Jonah.
Before that 1 Timothy which took a little under a year- Before that John (That took about 2 and half years).
And there are reasons why I believe this is the best method for preaching. I want to mention 6 of those reasons to you this morning. By no means exhaustive.
I believe teaching and preaching through books of the Bible acknowledges the supremacy and sufficiency of God’s Word in our church.
I believe the Word of God is to be at the center of our worship to God.
So preaching through whole books acknowledges that what God has written and how He has written it is best.
I believe teaching and preaching through books teaches us how we ought to read our Bibles.
In Context- Not pick and pop. Point and shoot. Flip and point.
We ought to read and study our Bibles in sections in order.
Read letters from the beginning.
The reason why is This is the order in which the Holy Spirit inspired the book, and thus we ought to approach it in that way.
On a related note, I believe teaching and preaching through book helps us to know our Bible better.
Hopefully, you have a better understanding of Hebrews as a whole after having spent the better part of a year studying it.
I believe teaching and preaching through books forces us to deal with difficult texts that are often avoided when the Preacher just chooses what he wants.
To be honest, there are texts I have come to that have been difficult. There are some texts I have preached that I don’t know that I had ever heard a sermon on that text before, but this method forces me to study and grow deeper in my faith and knowledge and it helps you because you get to hear all of God’s word preached.
I believe teaching and preaching through books guards against repetition and me focusing on my own current hobby horse.
And I have my soap boxes. but this way keeps us focused.
I believe teaching and preaching through books is the best way for us to know God.
I believe understanding every verse in the Bible is important, because I believe this is how we know God. This is how he reveals Himself to us.
So with that said, lets jump in to 1 Peter.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
So, first the reason this book is called 1 Peter, is because it is named after the author.
Peter is the author of this book. His name appears as the first word in this book.
More often that not, the books of the Bible are named after their human author.
So the author of this book is Peter.
But if you’ve read the NT closely at all, you know that Peter has a bit of a story.
In fact, in these first 6 words,"Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ” we see so much evidence of God’s grace..
Peter having this position, as an apostle and writing Scripture… is a testament to the Gospel and grace of Jesus Christ.
How?
First, just think about the name Peter.
This name points us back to the first time Peter had an encounter with Jesus.
Whenever Jesus first called him to be one of His disciples.
One of the two who heard John speak and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). He brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon the son of John; you shall be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).
So the first time Jesus meets him, Jesus renamed Him, His name was Simon. and he renamed him “Peter” which means rock.
Here whenever he writes the letter, it is important for us to see that he now identifies himself by the name given to Him by Jesus.
Which means, Peter recognized the most important thing about Him was who he was after he met Jesus.
Peter’s whole life was transformed by Jesus even down to His name. And Peter was never the same man after he met Jesus. We see from the Bible that Peter after meeting Jesus left his job.
In Mark 1- We are told-
As He was going along by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, the brother of Simon, casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.
Jesus renamed him and called him to Himself, and transformed Peter from Simon son of John the fisherman, To Peter, a disciple, a fisher of men, and in this letter an apostle of Jesus Christ.
And here again we see the grace of God in the name Peter.
But in verse 1 He refers to Himself here as an apostle of Jesus Christ. And here again we see evidence of God’s grace.
You should know- This was a position of authority within the early church.
RC Sproul says this about apostles-
A man who held the office of apostle was an eyewitness of the resurrection (Acts 1:22; 1 Cor. 15:8) who had been personally appointed by Christ (“of Jesus Christ,” see Matt. 10:1–7; Acts 1:24–26; Gal. 1:1) to govern the early church (1 Thess. 4:8; 2 Thess. 3:6, 14), and to teach or write with authority (1 Cor. 14:37; 1 Thess. 2:13; 4:15; 2 Pet. 3:15, 16) as one who had received special revelation from God
An apostle, as I have said before is the New Testament version of the Old Testament prophet.
They were appointed by God by Christ to teach and write with authority, so that Peter’s words carry the very authority of Jesus Christ.
So Peter had this position of authority and influence in the early church.
Peter was an apostles in the early church. Peter gave the first sermon preached in the book of Acts.
Peter was one of the most instrumental and influential of the apostles in beginning the ministry of the early church after Jesus ascended.
But in that, as I said earlier, there is so much grace.
Because if we are honest, when we think about Peter, we don’t envision a perfect Christian.
Let me remind you of a few instances of Peter’s life.
Remember- It is Peter who had the courage to step out of the boat and walk to Jesus on the water, but it was also Peter who began to sink when he became fearful of the raging sea around Him.
Remember it was Peter who contested with Jesus that he ought not go to the cross and suffer.
Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”
It was Peter that Jesus has to rebuke when Judas betrayed Him and Peter took a sword to defend Jesus and cut off Malchus’s ear. In John 18.
Now it is isn’t all bad
It was Peter among all the disciples who makes the grand and great confessions.
Do you remember these?
Jesus asked who they say he is- It is Peter who answers.
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
It is Peter who expresses unashamed and faithful solidarity with Jesus when everyone else leaves Him in John 6 after he fed them!
So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life.
It is Peter that claims he would never deny Jesus.
But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.”
Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.
And while he made those great confessions, and lofty statements, we all know what happened, right?
Peter denied Jesus three times that night just like Jesus said. He betrayed Jesus. In the moment of truth, he proved to be a fake.
So now we come to 1 Peter, and it almost surprises us that Peter calls Himself “an apostle of Jesus Christ.”
Because based upon actions, Peter would have been better described as:
A failure of Jesus Christ.
A Denyer of Jesus Christ.
A betrayer of Jesus Christ.
But in our text:
An apostle of Jesus Christ. One sent out and entrusted with the most serious of tasks- to proclaim the very words of Christ Himself to Christ’s bride.
So the question comes- what happened to this man. How was he transformed?
And the answer is the same one that renamed Him, restored and appointed Him. I want to remind you of John 21:15-17- This is Peter’s first meeting with the resurrected Christ after his denial of Him.
So 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, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again 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, “Shepherd 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 all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.
In that exchange what is interesting is that Jesus doesn’t refer to Him as “Peter.”
He calls Him Simon, Son of John.
This had to be heartbreaking for him. After all- Jesus had been the one to give him the name Peter. “the Rock”
But here, Jesus refers to him as Simon son of John.
Why? I believe because Peter no longer felt like he was “The Rock”. In his shame and guilt, he had returned to his previous life and work. He had returned to be Simon Son of John rather than Peter the follower of Christ. He had left ministry and returned to fishing.
So Jesus was speaking to a man who was running from him.
And he asked him three times, Do you love me? And three times, Peter responds by affirming his love for Jesus.
I believe Jesus did that to fully restore Peter after his three denials.
Do you see the grace in the fact that now in our letter we are reading, the first word is Peter? He refers to himself by His Christ given name?
Based upon his track record, it should have been Simon, son of John, “denier of Jesus Christ” “betrayer of Jesus Christ” “a failure of Jesus Christ”?
But thanks be to God, who we are it not based upon our track record. It is based upon Christ’s work in us.
So that Peter can say he is an apostle of Jesus Christ.
And that is all God’s grace. Peter didn’t deserve this. In fact he had proven the opposite.
But Jesus transformed His life.
I want to stop right there to say to you- wherever you are, whatever you’ve done, there is full restoration, full forgiveness, in Christ. Whatever your disobedience and past failures, there is forgiveness and the potential for obedience today.
Don’t let your past failures keep you from coming to and serving the one who is able to transform you like he did Peter.
But we have to move on from Peter.
Look in the second part of verse 1 and verse 2
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 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.
Now he addresses those to whom he is writing.
He tells us here writes to a group of Christians a group of churches, scattered across many different areas.
And what I want to emphasize is that he refers to them as those who reside as aliens. He is referring here to the Christians who had been scattered abroad, many of them because they were forced to scatter because of persecution.
But he encourages them here by referring to them as aliens.
In other words he is saying that even though they have been scattered, that some of them have even been removed from the earthly homes and scattered by force, that they should expect to be treated as aliens and strangers on earth if they are citizens of heaven.
In other words,
This is not our “forever home.” Your house is not your “forever home.” America is not our forever home nor is it our primary place of allegiance.
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
We reside here as aliens. We have to keep this in mind.
We just touched on this in Hebrews
But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.
We live here as aliens. This is not our home. Beware of getting too comfortable here. This is not our home. This is not our home.
Sometimes, I believe God may take measures to teach us this.
You and I have a better place prepared for us and its real.
Peter is seeking to encourage them in their faith. He is seeking to give them something to hold on to despite what they may face in the world.
And here is the foundation for their encouragement-
You reside as aliens here- but listen to what God has done and what God says about you.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen 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.
He tells them that they were foreknown and chosen by God.
This should be supreme encouragement for them and for us.
That God the Father has foreknown them, God has chosen them, and he has sent his Son to die for them.
Everyone loves the end of Romans 8 when he talks about the unbreakable truth of God’s love. But the basis of that love is God’s knowledge, His choice and His work in our lives.
Romans 8:29-31
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update Chapter 8
For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
Do you see the encouragement this gives? if God is for us if God has done all that for us, who can be against us?
This then leads him to say-
38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Peter and Paul both ground their comfort in God’s choice and work of and in His people.
Which means God has not only foreknown them previously , he knows them now, and he is at work in their lives currently.
God works in our lives currently to make us into the image of his Son.
It should give you comfort and it should amaze us to know that God is at work in our life by His Spirit.
How?
By producing fruit- the fruit of the spirit.
By helping us kill sin.
By equipping us.
The last thing he encourages them with is that they are to be obedient and those who are sprinkled with the very blood of Christ.
As believer, we are those who have been saved by Christ, sprinkled by the blood of Christ, and now we are to be obedient to Christ.
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
We have been saved to be obedient.
We are not saved by our good works, but we are saved to do good works.
Peter begins this letter beautifully.
There is a lot of truth in these first two verses.
But are we to take from it? I think there are two major applications.
I encourage you to look at the life of Peter and the transformation that happened to Him, and realize you are not beyond saving. You haven’t failed him too much that he can’t use you now.
Unbeliever- just come to Christ. He will save you if you will only call upon him.
Take encouragement from what Peter said.
This world is not our home. Some of you are going through some difficult days right now. the foundations of your earthly life are being shook.
Realize, you are living here as strangers. Your forever home is secure. Your hope is in the sure and steady anchor of God choice of you. If he be for you, who or what can be against? Which means he uses all things for you.
God has chosen us as Christ’s bride. God is is working in us through His Spirit. God has saved us through Christ’s blood. Take encouragement in that and keep living as a stranger.