Sermon Tone Analysis

Intro:

A. Peter is the author of this letter – What comes to mind when you think of Peter?

1. Guy who seemed to always put his foot in his mouth, who denied Jesus, etc….

2. Guy who said “you are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” and let 3,000 people to

Christ on the day of Pentecost

3. His life would changed dramatically after he was restored by Jesus and then baptized by the HS

4.

He was not a perfect man after that, but was a man that God used greatly

5. Before Jesus changed Peter’s name to Peter, his name was Simon

a.

It is thought by some that Simon meant “shifting sand”

b.

From scripture it seems that Peter was very unsure of his self

c.

Peter means rock

• “a detached but large fragment of rock,”

• It would come to describe a man who became firm and stable in his faith

B. Why did Peter write this letter?

1.

As we have seen in many of the letters we have studied, trials and tribulation were plenty

2. Things were already tough for these believers, but things were going get much worse

3. Peter wrote this letter shortly before or shortly after the beginning of one of the greatest

periods of persecution in church history under Caesar Nero

4. It would be very easy for these believers to loose hope

5.

Both of Peter’s letters are about the hope we have as believers

6.

This is why Peter is commonly referred to as the apostle of hope

7.

Where as Paul is referred to as the apostle of faith and John is the apostle of love

C. Who was Peter writing to?

 Read verses 1-2

1. Pilgrims of the Dispersion

a.

The term “pilgrims” can also be translated – “sojourners, strangers, aliens,

temporary residents”

b.

These believers were citizens of another kingdom – kingdom of God

c.

Our time here on earth is temporary, we are just passing through

d.

This can be encouraging in a couple ways

• Our trials and tribulations will not last forever

• This is not the sum total of life, but preparation for the life to come

e.

We need to live as though we are temporary residents not permanent

Colossians 3:1-2 (NIV)

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

Hebrews 11:9-10 (NKJV)

By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; 10 for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

2. Elect according to the foreknowledge of God

a. Elect has the idea of choosing - “to select out of a number”

b.

What is the basis for God choosing?

• That it is totally the choice of God and man has no part in it whatsoever

• Others say God only chooses the “elect” because they would choose Him

• Somewhere in the middle lies the truth

c.

We are told here that we are elect according to His foreknowledge

• Foreknowledge is to know something in advance – God knew the choices we would make

• Foreknowledge also conveys to know something in a personal way – God knew you through a personal relationship even before you were even created

d.

God created man with a free will - evident by the choice Adam and Eve made

e.

If you choose to reject God’s gift of salvation, then you are not one of the “elect”,

but it was your choice

f.

If you choose to receive God’s gift of salvation, you did not initiate it, you only

responded to the working of the Holy Spirit as He wooed you

g.

Some believe that man exercising free will takes away from God’s sovereignty

3. Sanctified by the Spirit and covered by the blood

a.

In each of these we see the work of the trinity in salvation

b. Warren Wiersbe said

• As far as God the Father is concerned, I was saved when He chose me in Christ before the foundation of the world.

As far as the Son is concerned, I was saved when He died for me on the cross.

But as far as the Spirit is concerned, I was saved one night in May 1945 when I heard the Gospel and received Christ.

Then it all came together, but it took all three Persons of the Godhead to bring me to salvation.

If we separate these ministries, we will either deny divine sovereignty or human responsibility; and that would lead to heresy.

c.

Living hope is something that is experienced by those who are elected by the father,

sanctified by the Spirit, covered by the Son’s blood and now are pilgrims in this world

 Living hope reminds us of what awaits us in the future, gives us strength for the present and is something to be shared with others

I. Living hope reminds of what awaits us in the future (vs.

3-5)

 Read verses 3-5

A. What is hope?

1. Vines Dictionary

a. favorable and confident expectation

b.

Hope describes the happy anticipation of good

2. Dictionary

a. to desire with expectation of obtainment

b. to expect with confidence

3.

You have confidence that something good will happen, therefore you expect it to

happen

4. How we tend to use the word hope

a.

I hope I get that job

b.