1 Peter 2:11-25
Notes
Transcript
11 Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
“strangers and pilgrims” - Our real home is in heaven with Christ
we are wandering on earth much like how the Israelites wandered the wilderness
Where we do not live worldly, we do not fit in either, we are “strangers in a strange land”
the Greek word for “strangers” in this passage means “a person living in a foreign country that is not his home”
πάροικος - stranger, alien - one who lives in a place that is not one’s home
greek for “pilgrims” means staying temporarily in a foreign place.
παρεπίδημος - staying for a while in a strange or foreign place, sojourning, residing temporarily
“abstain from fleshly lusts…soul” - we have this inner war in our soul since the fall. we all fall short
many times it’s easier to do what’s wrong instead of what’s right, so we will always have this temptation, it’s just simply ingrained in our nature
Today, our culture is coasting on the fumes of leftover morals from when we were a Christian country
imagine if everyone in the world just followed their own fleshly lusts and desires and no one followed God’s morals.
it would be an awful and destructive world, that is just our nature
it’s like this on a big scale like the example, but it’s also the same on a personal level
Our fleshly lusts are destructive to ourselves as well in much the same way that drugs are
when you do drugs, you think it’s great at the time
but as things go on you do more and more
it starts affecting your life in negative ways, it affects your relationships, etc.
we are tempted with these lusts all day every day as a human, but we can RISE ABOVE with Christ.
Through the cross, God renews us, and helps us to rise above, new life is breathed into us, we are a new creation
Following God’s morals is not only pleasing to Him, but it’s also conducive to a constructive and healthy life
foundation on rock vs sand
it’s almost as if God knows what He’s doing and has a plan for us despite what the world may think
since we are filled with the Holy Spirit when we are saved, the last thing we want to be doing is warring against the soul.
12 Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
“honest conversation” - Peter calls the Christian he addresses to have a good testimony
this good testimony would be a reflection on the church as a whole, the servants of God
think about it - we’ve all heard someone talk about people who were supposedly Christian not acting like it and it makes the person jaded about Christianity
story about dustin seeing pastor buy case of beer - he never cared about becoming a Christian again
there are far too many people who have seen bad representations of Christianity and have been turned off by it
we don’t want to be responsible for doing that, do we? that’s like anti-witnessing in a way
whether we are thinking about it or not, people are watching us - we have to do our best to have a good testimony in every way
all of our actions have a ripple effect, like throwing a pebble in the water
“they speak against you as evildoers” - the Romans saw Christian morals as superstitious - there were many rumors and misunderstandings that was going around among the romans
one rumor was that Christians were cannibals - the misunderstood Christians partaking in the Lord’s Supper
the romans didn’t understand yet that Christians had good morals, and weren’t some weird cult like they thought
the world is increasing moving further and further from Christian morals - we do not fit in
we don’t deal with it as much around here yet, but in some places, real Christians are maligned, and are viewed as bigots because they do not support homosex, transgenderism, or abortions, etc
this all the more means that we should just follow the Bible, have a good testimony, and show the world.
16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
13 Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme; 14 Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers, and for the praise of them that do well. 15 For so is the will of God, that with well doing ye may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:
Paul echoes v.13 in Romans
1 Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.
This does not mean that if the government tells us to disobey God’s word or something like that that we should obey the government over man
God first, then govt, remember all the martyrs
“stoic and other philosophers commonly used these ethical codes to delineate proper relationships with others. Jewish people and other religious slandered religious groups sometimes adopted these codes to demonstrate that their groups actually supported good morals. This demonstration was important in combating persecution.”
this was something that Christians could do as well to demonstrate that “hey, they’re not as bad as the rumors say, they’re actually really good people”
Peter tells us the will of God is that by doing well, we may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men
basically, we are showing up the naysayers, we prove them wrong by the way we live and speak
“punishment of evildoers/praise of them that do well” - interesting quote from old rabbi
“Pray for the welfare of the government, for were it not for the fear of it, a person would swallow his friend alive”
this is so true, and it really points at our fallen nature like we talked about before
16 As free, and not using your liberty for a cloke of maliciousness, but as the servants of God. 17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
we have freedom right now, who knows for how much longer at this rate, but we have it
first of all, we have been blessed by God with it by being born here, in fact it’s only because of Godly morals that we have it in the first place
the founding fathers derived the concept of “unalienable rights” from the God and the Bible
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
that’s a bit of a rabbit trail, but the point being is that we have been given our freedom by God
“With great opportunity comes great responsibility”
we all have great opportunity to reach people, we have freedom to travel, freedom to communicate, freedom to use computers and the internet
world wide communication, we are the only people in the history of the world to have this kind of opportunity
we could all be doing better to make the best of it
each and every one of us has the power to witness to people worldwide, that’s powerful
even if you don’t count the internet we have phones, airplanes, printers, copies of the Bible out the wazoo
Just as we have all this opportunity to do good, we have just as much opportunity to do bad as well.
there are so many of these opportunities that appeal to the flesh today
commercials that are everywhere, stuff that is being pushed by the media, the increasingly worldliness of society
just like how a rich man has more resources to satisfy his fleshly desires, we have the same problem with having freedom, we have all the opportunity to sin that we want
17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.
honor all men - what did Jesus tell us, love the Lord your God with all your heart, might, soul, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves, on these two commands hang all the law and the prophets
in other words, those 2 things are the basis for all other commandments in the Bible
love the brotherhood - look out for our fellow Christians
why God instituted the church - one reason He did it was for fellow Christians to reinforce one another, to support one another, to encourage one another, to be there for one another
God said in Genesis that it’s not good that man be alone, he needs a partner
in the same way, it’s not good that a Christian should be alone out there in the world wandering just all by himself, it’s certainly possible, but how much better would it be for him if he had a group of Christians that he could rely on
the phrase “church family” is often used, and it really can be that way
this is all the more opportunity for us to love the brotherhood
“What he adds respecting the love of brethren is special, as contrasted with the first clause;
for he speaks of that particular love which we are told to have towards the household of
faith, because we are connected with them by a closer relationship. And so Peter reminds us, that brethren are to be specially regarded.”
fear God - the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
it’s the basis for us to live a life pleasing to the Lord, the basis for us fleeing from sin, and when we flee from sin that is true freedom, freedom from sin
Jesus told us the truth would set us free, and the truth is His word
honor the king - again, so Christians let their light shine in a way that represents God well
18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.
now we don’t necessarily have slavery so much today in the same way that we did in the past or that Peter is talking about, but we can take this principle to jobs
just like what Peter told us to do with the state, the same concept applies here
so we should be a good employee, doing the best we can, putting on a good representation for God even in work
in fact, the workplace can be a great place for witnessing, because many times you can get to know someone, you can have time to work with someone
froward - “crooked”
the verse tells us that even if we have bosses or superiors that mistreat us, that doesn’t give us an excuse to act out, it’s a reason to put on a good testimony all the more, to let our light shine
19 For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.
thankworthy - graceful
we follow in the footsteps of our Savior when we suffer wrongly
we also follow in the footsteps of the early martyrs
11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
one performs his duty, not from a regard to men, but to God.
20 For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.
“what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated for it? but if you do good and suffer for it, this finds favor with God”
21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
we are to follow in His footsteps, to be conformed to the image of the Son
now, sometimes we will suffer for this, as the world rejects us
nothing seems more wrong than to suffer wrongly, it’s enraging
we can all think of times in our life when we were wrongly blamed for something, or did something that was good and suffered for it, it seems so wrong
but when we look toward Christ, this turns it all around and makes it all worth it
22 Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: 23 Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
Peter quotes from Isaiah 53, the famous suffering servant prophecy about Jesus
and that’s what Jesus was for us, He came to us as a suffering servant
we are called to follow in His footsteps, we are called to be servants
24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. 25 For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.
Peter finishes off the chapter by continuing the quote from Isaiah 53.
1 Who hath believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 2 For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, And as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. 3 He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment: And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: For the transgression of my people was he stricken. 9 And he made his grave with the wicked, And with the rich in his death; Because he had done no violence, Neither was any deceit in his mouth. 10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; For he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, And he shall divide the spoil with the strong; Because he hath poured out his soul unto death: And he was numbered with the transgressors; And he bare the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors.
root out of dry ground - like a life saving oasis in the desert, like water that satisfies the thirst forever, like a root of good in a world of evil
no beauty that we should desire Him - what this is getting at is that the reason we should follow Christ is because of His word, not for any other reason
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief - we certainly saw that, Jesus dealt with just as much if not more psychological suffering than physical suffering, although He certainly endured much of both
He dealt with so much rejection, from His family, from His town, from His nation, from His own people who He loved
He was betrayed, He was denied, etc
wounded for OUR transgressions, bruised for OUR iniquity
chastisement of our peace - “punishment that resulted in our peace”