THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW--1 PETER 1:17-25

While You Pass— There are some things we need to know as we live our life

Vs17-

“IF”- This word is not introducing an hypothesis as it often does in our conversations, but rather is presents a “fulfilled condition”-

Peter was writing to Christians

They were calling on the Father. The idea is “ in view of the fact that you call on Him as Father”. They recognized God as their Father since they had been brought into the family of God in salvation. They appealed to Him as a child would appeal to its father.

What a beautiful thought to give us encouragement in our praying, faith that the answer is sure and the wonderful truth to know that God is near.

To think that He is our Father and we are His children!

a) Know about the Father- the judge.

The words “without respect of persons”- translation literally means—“does not receive face”. That is, God does not receive anybody’s face

-He is impartial-Outward appearance, wealth, culture, social position, family background, education, beauty, intellect—all things that more or less sway the opinions of man do not count with God when it comes to appraising a person’s character or worthiness.

READ 1 Samuel 16:7

1 Samuel 16:7 KJV 1900

But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.

-to every work or deed-

—God expects to find in the life of each saint that which upon He can put His approval, for the Holy Spirit produces good works in all the saints, more in those who are definitely subjected to His control.

human duties and occupations, task—tilled lands, farms, weaving, fishing, result of work. More specifically, we will be tested at the judgment seat of Christ on the following : How we:

Treat others; exercise authority over others; use our God-given abilities; use our money; spend our time; suffer for Jesus; run the race God has given us; control our old nature; how many we witness to and lead to Christ; react to baptism; our faithfulness to His Word and His people.

“Repay them according to their work, and according to the evil of their deeds; repay them according to the work of their hands, render them their due reward” (Psa 28:4)

“Pass”- live, to conduct or behave oneself—walk

b) Know about the time

—remember that this is a unit of time, span, set time. Eternal life begins in the present. The present time for us is to prepare for the future.

-sojourning- literally means “to have a home alongside of” and refers to a person living in a foreign land alongside of people who are not of his kind.

this period of time is time spent in a foreign land, time of —temporary residence. As a foreigner, we should remember that our citizenship is not here, but in heaven. David recognized that he was a pilgrim, describing himself as a “passing guest, an alien” (Psa 39:12). In Hebrews, we read of the Hall of Fame-“”All of these died in faith without having received the promises, but from a distance they saw and greeted them. They confessed that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth” (Heb 11:13).

Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:14)

c Know about fear- vs 17

—respect/reverence as to one in authority

The Christian must always live in the consciousness of the fact that he is being watched by the unsaved, that his responsibility is to bear a clear, ringing, genuine testimony to His God and Saviour by the kind of life he lives. Peter says he is to do this in fear. This fear has been defined as follows: “This fear is self-distrust; it is tenderness of conscience; it is vigilance against temptation; it is the fear which inspiration opposes to highmindedness in the admonition, ‘be not high-minded but fear.’ It is taking heed lest we fall; it is a constant apprehension of the deceitfulness of the heart, and of the insidiousness and power of inward corruption. It is the caution and circumspection which timidly shrinks from whatever would offend and dishonor God and the Saviour

d) Know about your redemption-vs18

—(vs18)-your freedom, deliverance, your release upon payment of ransom. Redemption is the purchase BACK of something that had been lost. “Just as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a RANSOM for many. (Mt 20:28)This means that we have not always been free.

Jesus had taught them that ‘everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin’ (Jn. 8:34). In line with this, Paul can think of himself as ‘carnal, sold under sin’ (Rom. 7:14), sold as under a cruel slave-master. He reminds the Romans that in earlier days they had been ‘slaves of sin’ (Rom. 6:17).

From another point of view men were under sentence of death on account of their sin. ‘For the wages of sin is death’ (Rom. 6:23). Sinners are slaves. Sinners are doomed to death. Either way the ancient world would have regarded the situation as crying out for redemption.

-Not with corruptible things:

-silver or gold—this was the normal means of pardoning another. Yet, Gold is less worthy than wisdom, faith, and knowledge.

Peter mentions these in contrast so that we may know that the whole world and all things deemed precious by men, are nothing to the excellency and value of this price.

Contrast—(but with) vs19

-Blood –real human blood- this could be in comparison to the blood of the Passover. During the Passover, blood was placed on the doorposts of the Hebrew houses in Egypt, protecting those inside. Blood is the life of the flesh, and spiritually, blood is our life.

-precious-valuable, costly, great worth, priceless-Paul writes that “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree” (Gal 3:13).

The writer of Hebrews wrote, “He entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption” (Heb 9:12).

- It reveals God’s love for mankind- while I was a sinner, Christ died for me.

- It reveals the sacrificial aspect of His death—“He was put to death for my trespasses” (Rom 4:25)

- It reveals the nature of His death—He died specifically for us.

-lamb –Christ suffering innocently and representative as the all sufficient sacrifice.

-without blemish-absence of defects in a religious sense, faultless. In the OT, no lamb was to offered that had any blemish, for it would be unacceptable.

-spotless- faultless in a moral sense

In essence, this was done as a satisfaction to divine justice, as an expiation (atonement, reconciliation) for sin, and as a ransom from the curse and authority of the law, thus reconciling us to God by making it consistent with his perfection to exercise mercy toward sinners”

Last week—we spoke about “Things that we need to Know” according to Peter

-about the Father

-Fear

-Redemption

Today, we will look at —-

===Christ!!

e) Know about Christ- -Vs20

- Foreordained—beforehand, advance, selected in advance, appointed

beforehand. Known by God, not yet manifested to men.

-before—foundation of world- beginning, conception

Several verses relate to “before the foundation”—

Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world. John 17:24;

According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love. (Eph 1:4).

The incarnation, death and resurrection of Christ were not the result of a change in purpose to meet unforeseen circumstances. They were foreseen and foreordained in the eternal counsels of God—which are above our range of understanding.

Contrast

-Manifested- revealed

-in the last times—a particular time, unit of time, span

( Vs21)- because of this manifestation, through Him, we who do believe, in God,

Peter adds that it is “through him”- through Christ, that you have confidence in God. The God who redeems is not the object of their trust!

-believe that God raised Him from the dead—

refers to Christ’s resurrection., His ascent into heaven and reception of honor and glory from the Father.

-believe that God gave Him glory-

a manifestation of light, radiance, brightness, splendor; an excellent reputation, honor, glory, praise.

-our faith—belief directed toward God, faith, trust, reliance, conviction, good conscience.

-our hope—expectation of a divinely provided future

After Peter has told his readers to live holy lives (14-16), and to fear God’s discipline (17) for God has redeemed them from sin at a great cost(18-19), he concludes them by reminding them that God who they are to fear as Judge is also the God whom they trust as Savior; He planned their redemption (vs20)—

-He is the One whom they now depend on!!

-He is the One they place their trust and Hope in!

The God whom they fear is also the God whom they trust!!

f) Know about Others- Vs22

Purify your soul—cleanse from defilement, get rid of old desires- John wrote, “beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1John 3:2-3).

HOW

—OBEDIENCE—one is to live in obedience to the truth—this cleansing can be accomplished by obedience of faith. Faith gives us the only pure motive, which is our love to God. but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.(1John 1:7)

WHY- the purpose for purifying our souls is not that we can be saved, for that has already happened. Rather, you will be able to love the brethren with a sincere love, w/out hypocrisy.

The MARK-Love one another-according to Wiersbe, this is one of the “birthmarks” of God’s children--love is indefinite to most of us, we do not know what we mean when we talk about love. Love is the sovereign preference of one person for another, and spiritually Jesus demands that that preference be for Himself.

1)The Holy Spirit reveals that God loved us not because we were lovable, but because it was His nature to do so. ‘Now,’ He says to us, ‘show the same love to others’“Love as I have loved you.” ‘I will bring any number of people about you whom you cannot respect, and you must exhibit My love to them as I have exhibited it to you.’

2)The knowledge that God has loved us to the uttermost, to the end of all our sin and meanness and selfishness and wrong, will send us forth into the world to love in the same way. God’s love to us is inexhaustible, and we must love others from the bedrock of God’s love to us. Are we prepared to be so identified with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness are being poured out all the time?

3)Neither natural love nor Divine love will remain unless it is cultivated. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained by discipline.

-love with the heart that is clean- our love for others must be from a clean heart, without hypocrisy—not in word, but in deed. Christian love is holy love!

NOTE—vs22—“phileo”- sincere, brotherly affection

“love one another with a pure heart”- “agapao”- love, especially strong, deep love.

-intently, fervently—strong, deeply felt, fervent emotions or desires

—with all of your energies strained to the utmost. Our love for one another should be in relation to church as they prayed for Peter while he was in prison—they prayed “fervently” for him.(Acts 12:5). A love that consumes selfishness!!

“ A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.(Jn 13:34)”We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren”(1Jn 3:14)

Some Things We Need to Know-

Know about God the Father—judge

Know about our Time—

Know about fear—let others see Jesus in us

Know about our Redemption

Know about Jesus Christ

Know about our Responsibility to Others

Now, we need to Know the Word of God.

G) Know the Word of God-23-25

The Bible consists of

how many books? how many authors? 44 over a period of how many years? 1500 shortest verse in the Bible— John 11:35 longest verse in the Bible— Esther 8:9

OT—between 1400 and 400 BC

NT— between 50 and 100 AD

Bibliology

The Doctrine of the Bible—regarding the nature of revelation, inspiration, inerrancy and illumination.

Dt 6:4-9

Mt 5:18

The Bible teaches that there is only one God—Ex 20:2

The Bible teaches about salvation—

from sickness (James 5:14-15

from death

from God’s wrath- 1 Thess 1:10

Spiritual salvation-

From sin—Rom 3:21-4:12

-Word of God is living- the Word of God is the instrument. We are born again of the Spirit, by the Word of God. All things were made through Him—He is the beginning of the Creation of God; He is our life. According to Hebrews 4:12, “Indeed, the word of God is quick(living) and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart”

-The Law—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

-The History—Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther

-Poetry- Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon

-Major Prophets—Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel

-Minor Prophets—Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

NT

Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

History—Acts

Letters of Paul- Romans, 1&2 Col, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thess, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon

General letters—Hebrews, James, 1&2 Peter, 1,2,3 John, Jude

Prophecy-Revelation

2 Tim 3:16—“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God”

-“inspired means literally, “God breathed”.

-Word of God is enduring, abiding- The word of God carries forth the germ of life. The life is God communicated to us through the Word.

—Romans 9:6

Romans 9:6 KJV 1900

Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:

Read 2 Tim 3:14-17

2 Timothy 3:14–17 KJV 1900

But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

-The Word of God is a Catalyst for Growth—it helps the believer to grow. Young Christians grow spiritually because they are well nourished by the food God’s Word provides 91 Peter 2:2).

-Using the Bible as a mirror enables believers to evaluate the consistency of their Christian living (James 1:22-25)

-When attacked by the enemy, God’s Word servers as the “sword of the Spirit” (Eph 6:17)

-This truth should remind us that simply to hear the word of God and to know the Word of God will not be sufficient to save a person. We must be born again.

--the incorruptible seed is the Holy Spirit of God—the source of life. It is the Spirit that beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God”(John 3:5)

-The Word of God Must Be Studied

Conditions for Studying the Bible—according to Torrey,

---one must be born again— The bible is a spiritual book—1 Col 2:13-14

A person who understands the language of the Holy Spirit, even though they don’t know a word of Greek or Hebrew, will get much out of the Bible.

2) must have a love for the Bible-

Job 23:12

Jeremiah 15:16

3) Willing to Do Hard Work

Prov 2:1-5

Ps 1:2

Joshua 1:8

4)Wholly Surrendered to God

John7:17- a surrendered will gives that clearness of spiritual vision which is necessary to understand God’s word. Many challenges come because the will of the student is not surrendered to the will of the author.

James compares the Bible to a looking glass. (Jas. 1:23, 24). The chief good of a looking glass, is to show you if there is anything out of fix about you, and, if you find there is, you can set it right. Use the Bible in that way. Obeying the truth you already see, will solve the enigmas in the verses you do not as yet understand. Disobeying the truth you see, darkens the whole world of truth. This is the secret of much of the scepticism and error of the day. Men saw the truth, but did not do it, now it is gone. I knew a bright and promising young minister. He made rapid advancement in the truth. He took very advanced ground upon one point especially, and the storm came. One day he said to his wife, “It is very nice to believe this, but we need not speak so much about it.” They began, or he, at least, to hide their testimony. The wife died and he drifted. The Bible became to him a sealed book. Faith reeled. He publicly renounced his faith in some of the fundamental truths of the Bible. He seemed to lose his grip even on the doctrine of immortality. What was the cause of it all? Truth not lived and stood for, flees. That man is much admired and applauded by some to-day, but daylight has given place to darkness in his soul.

Torrey, R. A. (1896). How to study the bible for greatest profit ... (pp. 103–104). Fleming H. Revell Company.

5) Have a Child Like Mind

Matt 11:25- we must not come to the Bible full of our own ideas, nor come to find confirmation of our opinion. Rather, we must be taught what God is pleased to teach us.

6) Study it as the Word of God

1 These 2:13

This involves absolute reliance on the promises of the Word of God; we receive the Word of God without questioning God; and knowing that we are in God’s presence as we are studying His Word.

7) Study it Prayerfully—

Psa 119:18

1)-Why—All of the above is now given reason—

Isaiah 40:6-8-6 The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 7 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass. 8 The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Vs24-25—BECAUSE—

--All flesh is like grass

And --All flesh’s glory is like a flower, flower of grass

And --Grass withers, dries up

--Flower falls away

BUT --The Word of the Lord remains, abides into all ages

The Word, the “rhema”—the actual spoken or written word of the Lord abides forever.

This is what Peter’s readers have heard and believed. The word included, OT scriptures, NT proclamation.

Peter draws a distinct contrast between the “permanence of God’s Word” and the “fading glory of human achievement”

The grass withereth;” The rare flower, delicate or gorgeous, shines in its brightness above the common weeds; but it has no more permanence, no longer lease of life; it droops and fades and falleth away. So is it with that human life which seems most brilliant, most glorious.

“The rich man also died, and was buried.” The dust of Cæsar is no better than the dust off Lazarus; both mingle with the earth from which they came. “Ashes to ashes, dust to dust,” is said over the grave of kings and of beggars. Therefore, if only we abide in him who is the Word of God, who hath the words of eternal life, if we abide in him as faithful branches abiding in the vine, then we can never perish, none can pluck us out of his hand; for “he is able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him—love God and others.