“Submit Yourselves for the Lord’s Sake” [Matt's Messages]

“Submit Yourselves for the Lord’s Sake”

As Foreigners and Exiles - The Message of 1 Peter

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

November 7, 2021 :: 1 Peter 2:13-17

We are a family of foreigners. 

We saw and felt that last week as we reached the key passage that we have been memorizing as a church family for the last few months. 1 Peter chapter 2, verses 11 and 12.

Let’s say it together:

“Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

And what a day that will be!

The Apostle Peter says that we are very loved.

And he also says that we are very displaced.

We are “foreigners and exiles.”

We are sojourners and pilgrims.

We are strangers and resident aliens.

We are not from around here, and we are not home yet.

We are a citizens of another kingdom, the kingdom of heaven, living in and among the kingdoms of this world. And so we are called to live a particular and different way.

Not giving in to or giving up in the internal war of our sinful desires.

And living beautiful lives, lives full of shining goodness, so that our unbelieving neighbors are drawn to our Lord.

We said last week that those words “As Foreigners and Exiles” are the context for the whole book especially for what Peter is going to ask us to do next.

And it’s not going to be easy.

Are you ready to hear what Peter is going to ask us to do as foreigners and exiles?

Are you ready for God’s Word to us today?

I warn you that it is not something that comes naturally to most of us humans, and even less so to those of us who are born and bred Americans.

In today’s passage (and in the next several weeks’ worth of passages), the Apostle Peter is going to ask us to submit ourselves to other humans.

The title of this message is the first five words of the first verse, “Submit Yourselves for the Lord’s Sake.”

Peter is establishing the main principle here, and then he’s going to bring it to bear on different relationships from here to the end of the next chapter.

But the main focus is on submission.

“Submit yourselves.” That’s something that most of us are not very good at.

To submit yourself means to put yourself under someone else’s authority.

It means to follow their orders. It means to obey. It means to “be subject” to someone else.

And we are already beginning to chafe, right?

Raise your hand or honk if you love this word: MANDATES.

(For yourself, I mean. If you like to be mandated. Not if you like to give mandates.)

Raise your hand or honk if you love this word: TAXES.

Raise your hand or honk if you love these words: SPEED LIMITS.

Raise your hand or honk if you love these words: GAME LIMITS.

Raise your hand or honk if you love this word: PERMITS.

Raise your hand or honk if you love this word: BEDTIMES.

Again if someone else is giving it to you. Someone else’s requirements.

Some people do like to be told what to do, some of the time.

Nobody likes it all of the time.

And we Americans are famous for hating it most of the time.

So the Apostle Peter comes along and says that you and I as followers of Christ as foreigners and exiles are to “submit [ourselves] for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men...”

How do you like that?

I have three points I want to bring out this morning, and here’s number one:

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake...”

#1. TO HUMAN AUTHORITIES.

Let me ask you to do something today, okay?

Try to apply this passage to yourself and not to the guy sitting next to you or across the way. Try to apply this passage to yourself and not to somebody else somewhere else. “Those people.” It’s a lot easier to see where someone else somewhere else is doing this poorly. And it’s harder to see yourself here. 

So do the hard thing! Think about yourself and the human authorities to whom you are to submit yourself. Parents, bosses, and especially governmental authorities. Because that’s where Peter starts. Verse 13 again.

“Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.”

Now at that time for Peter, “the king” was the Roman Emperor who was probably the cruel and godless Emperor Nero. Nero was the supreme human authority in Peter’s world. And Nero had governors or rulers or princes under him that he had sent out and commissioned also to give orders.

What was Peter’s word for the Christians in Asia Minor to do in regards to Emperor Nero and his governors?

Were they to say, “Not My Emperor!” 

Like some said, “Not my President!” from 2017 to 2020 and others have said “Not my President!” in 2021?

No, Peter says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men.”

Now, I can hear you saying, “But what about this?”

And there are a bunch of exceptions and questions and complexities.

I mean, for one thing, our American President is not a king, praise God!

He’s just an elected official.

But he is an authority. And so is his administration. And so is the US Congress. And so is the US Supreme Court. And so are our state and local governing authorities. And our courts and our judges in this commonwealth. And our police. And our game wardens. And our township supervisors. And our health department officials.

And they don’t always make good decisions! Or pass good laws!

They are just human. That’s one of the things that makes it so hard for us.

I preached this passage before twenty years ago this month. Back then we were building our home in Lanse. And the sewer system was just coming in. Do you remember that? Some of you will.

So, I was going to get onto the sewer without having to put in a sand mound first, but while we waited for the sewer system to come, through, I had to put in a holding tank in the ground for my waste water.

And at the time, I thought it would make sense for me to just run my toilets into the holding tank, and not my grey water. You know what I mean? Like our showers and washing machines and stuff like that? Not that dirty of water. 

But the authorities said that I had to put all of my waste water no matter how light it was into that holding tank and have it pumped out and away at $175 a pop. It was a 1500 gallon holding tank, and we had 1 baby and 1 on the way, and we used 3000 gallons of water every month at that time. I couldn’t see how I could afford that.

 

I did not like what this human authority was telling me. It didn’t make sense to me! So what did I do?

I submitted myself for the Lord’s sake. 

[And by the way, the Lord took good care of us (sometimes miraculously) through that whole time.]

Now, of course, we are blessed in the US of A to have an actual say in our government. Tuesday was Election Day, and we have the privilege, under our Constitution, of being able to be a part of the ultimate governing body in the United States.

And we can run for office, and sign petitions, and advocate for different public policies, and respectfully challenge laws and mandates in court. So many privileges we have in America with our experiment in self-government. Thank you, veterans, for securing those privileges!

So you would think that that would make it easier for American Christians to submit to human authorities. But, sadly, this is an area of weakness, blindness, and stubborn disobedience for many American Christians. 

How about you?

The world is watching.

Submit yourselves to human authorities.

Now, there are genuine exceptions. There just should be no excuses.

There are genuine exceptions. The Apostle Peter himself did NOT submit to the human governing authorities when they told him in Acts chapter 5 to stop preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Peter said, “No way! We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).

We must be holy in all we do. So, if there is a divergence between what God has clearly told us we must do in His Word and what humans tell us we must to do in this world, we must not submit to the human authorities. Like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego!

And be ready to go into the fire for it.

But that same Peter who said “No” to the Sanhedrin, says that we need to say “Yes” in most cases to the governing authorities over us.

Even the terrible ones, like Nero!

By the way, if you do go into government–and we need more genuine followers of Christ to run for office–try to effect laws and policies that do what verse 14 says, “to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right” (see also Romans 13:1-7, especially verse 4). That’s what the gift of government does when it’s at its best.

Let’s vote, as Christians, for those we believe will do the best job of effecting a just society like that. Not for those who will just make decisions that benefit us, but that bring justice to our whole society whether our particular group benefits or not.

We will often disagree about who the best people are for that job (and even what justice looks like in various situations), but regardless, let’s make this our goal. Even Nero was doing it to some degree!

Submit yourselves to human authorities. Why?

What are the most important words, do you think, in the title for today’s message? In the first five words of verse 13?

“For the Lord’s sake,” right? 

Peter doesn’t want us to submit to human authorities because they have the biggest guns.

Peter doesn’t want us to submit to human authorities because they can level fines.

Peter wants us to submit to human authorities because it affects our witness.

Remember, we’re foreigners here.

We’re exiles.

We’re strangers.

And our pagan neighbors are watching us and learning about our God in the process.

Are Christians troublemakers?

Well, if the gospel is stirring up trouble, then yeah. And we don’t apologize for it.

But if we are just being troublemakers for our own selfish sakes, then we are giving the Lord’s name a black eye.

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake...”

#2. TO SILENCE THE SLANDER. 

Look at verse 15.

“For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

This is what God wants!

You see, people are watching, and they are talking. And they are going to talk Christians down.

Christians will get a bad reputation in all societies over time.

Satan will see to it. We will get a bad rap.

But we should not feed that narrative any ammunition ourselves.

There shouldn’t be anything that our unbelieving neighbors can point to and legitimately say, “Those ‘Christians’ are a bad influence.”

We need to live that reputation down.

We need to prove them wrong.

We need to not prove them right.

“For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

It’s just simply the idea of verse 12 that we’ve been memorizing. 

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

Because if they don’t see our good deeds, it blasphemes our God.

So, it’s much more important for you and I to submit to human authorities than it is to have good human authorities.

We are so wrapped up in politics in our culture, and complain about “those people” out there, and do so very little searching evaluation on ourselves in here.

Well, we can’t do that much about “those people” out there, but we can do something about us in here.

And silence the slander.

The world should come to say, “Hey, those Christians aren’t as bad as I’ve heard. They are actually model citizens. They are good neighbors. They are kind. They are generous. I’m Muslim, but I feel welcome and loved. I’m LGBTQ, and I know they aren’t allies, but they look out for me. I feel safe around them. I feel seen around them. I’m an immigrant. I’m a refugee. I’m glad that these Christians are helping me. They aren’t cheating me. They actually follow the rules and don’t take advantage of me. They are not so bad after all.”

“For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.”

Let’s stopping giving them something to talk about.

Because WE are foreigners and exiles. 

Remember that. We have to get it into our thick skulls.

We’re too used to thinking of ourselves as natives and as running the show.

I was talking with Tobi last night when she and Judy came to set up her table, and we were talking about what it’s like to be a foreigner working for a missions organization in Papua New Guinea. And especially what it’s like to submit to human authorities in country.

And one of the things she said was that as foreigners, they could get kicked out at any time. They realize that they are not calling the shots.

But even more importantly, they are representing Jesus there.

And they have actually achieved a favored status with the government because of their good behavior. 

And while that could go away at any time, as well, the whole point is to be worthy of it because it reflects on our King and His Kingdom.

“Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake...”

#3. AS SERVANTS OF GOD. 

Look with me at verse 16.

“Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.”

So, yes, in a very real sense, “The US President is not my president.” Because I am ultimately not an American. I’m a Christian. I’m totally free!

I am not owned by America. I am owned by God and nobody else.

But my God will not allow me to use my freedom as a pretext or cloak or a cover-up for evil. He calls me to be good and voluntarily submit to human authorities whenever I should.

Even when I don’t feel like it.

We are free! Evangelical Free! Free in the gospel. Free in grace. Free from sin.

And free to freely submit as servants of God.

And what does that look like in practical terms? In verse 17, Peter gives us four short little commands to tell us what a servant of God should be doing. V.17.

“Show proper respect to everyone.”

And, no, there are no loopholes here. “Everyone” there means “everyone.”

It doesn’t just say that we should tolerate everyone. It says that we should show proper respect. Some versions have “honor.” It’s the same word in Greek that will be the last command in this verse.

Every human being is made in the image of God, and as Christians we can show even the most despicable humans respect as image bearers.

They have intrinsic value.

They have intrinsic dignity.

How are you doing at this one, Servant of God?

What does your social media say about how you’re doing?

Are you treating people with proper respect?

Even people of the opposite political party as you are?

Even that guy in your neighborhood that flies a flag that offends you? Maybe it’s Black Lives Matter. Maybe it’s the Confederate Flag. Maybe it’s the Rainbow Pride Flag. Maybe it’s “Don’t Tread on Me.” Maybe it’s even the Stars and Stripes.

How do you treat them, Servant of God?

I’m not asking if they are respectable. I’m asking if you show them respect.

Next one. Verse 17. “Love the brotherhood of believers.”

A servant of God is committed to the family of God.

They don’t just get involved in church when it’s convenient. They sacrifice convenience and love each other deeply from the heart.

We show respect to everybody as image-bearers, but we show special love to the family of believers.

Third, “fear God.”

That’s simple isn’t it? But it’s profound.

We don’t fear the authorities here. We fear God.

You know, there was a lot a pressure in this society to actually worship the emperor. There was a whole cult of worship surrounding the Roman Emperor.

And I think that our culture heads that way, too. Not so much worshiping the guy at the top of the political party, but worshiping the political party and putting all of your faith and trust in its political success.

But you and I are to worship God, not man.

Fear God, Servant of God! Fear God!

And last of all, “Honor the king.”

Like I said, this is the same word in Greek as “show proper respect” at the beginning of the verse.

We are to show honor and respect to those in authority over us. At least the same respect as we show other people!

It’s a little known fact, but it turns out that politicians are people, too. Those who are in authority are humans made in the image of God, and we are to treat them as we would want to be treated.

Would you want other people to talk about you, the way you talk about our government officials?

How about on social media?

Over the last couple years, I have stopped scrolling through Facebook because it depresses and angers me. I go a little bit in and then I quit. I try to put good things in there, but I can’t spend much time on there because it depresses and angers me.

And what depresses and angers me the most is not what is going on out there in our godless culture.

What depresses and angers me the most are the dishonoring things I see so many professing Christians post about others, especially about our rulers.

Dishonoring.

Disrespecting.

Rude and sometimes crude.

There is this thing right now with the name “Brandon” and a saying being used as an alternate obscenity directed at the President of the United States.

It’s not funny.

And even if it was funny, it is not holy.

And you say, “Well, these people do not deserve my respect. They have not earned it.” (This is people on either and both sides.)

Do you know what Nero did to Peter?

Tradition says that Nero had Peter crucified upside down.

And Peter said, “Honor the king.”

Servants of God, honor the king.

This afternoon, do a trip down your social media accounts, if you have them, and ask yourself 1 Peter 2:17 about every single post you’ve posted.

And delete all of the posts that break it.

I’m serious.

“Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”

What would happen if every single follower of Christ in America just followed 1 Peter 2:17 on every single social media post, everything single call-in to a talk show, every single appearance on cable news, every single podcast interview, and they only supported other Christians who did, as well?

“Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.”

For the Lord’s sake, we need to do this.

We need to submit to human authorities to silence the slander of God as His own servants.

So that our neighbors will glorify our God on the day He visits us.

***

Previous Messages in This Series

01. "Elect Exiles" 1 Peter 1:1-2
02. "A Living Hope" 1 Peter 1:3-7
03. "Angels Long To Look Into These Things" 1 Peter 1:8-12
04. "Be Holy In All You Do" 1 Peter 1:13-16
05. "Live Your Lives As Strangers Here In Reverent Fear" 1 Peter 1:17-21
06. "Love Each Other Deeply, From the Heart" 1 Peter 1:22-2:3
07. "But Now You Are..." 1 Peter 2:4-10

08. “As Foreigners And Exiles”  1 Peter 2:11-12

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"As Foreigners and Exiles" [Matt's Messages]

“As Foreigners And Exiles”

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

October 31, 2021 :: 1 Peter 2:11-12

I’m beginning to believe that the Apostle Peter is serious about wanting us to think of ourselves as outsiders.

How about you?

A major theme of Peter’s letter so far has been that he wants his readers to think of themselves, to consider themselves, as outsiders, as displaced persons, as visitors, as temporary residents who are not in their homeland.

Or as he says in verse 11, “As Foreigners And Exiles.”

The Greek words that Peter actually used are as “paroikous [and] parepidaymous.”

The 1984 NIV chose the words “aliens and strangers in the world,” which kind of sounds like something out of Doctor Who or Star Wars or E.T. or Mork from Ork.

So the updated NIV has “foreigners and exiles.” 

The CSB has “strangers and exiles.”

The ESV has “sojourners and exiles.”

King James, “strangers and pilgims.”

You get the picture?

“paroikous [and] parepidaymous.”

Peter has used both of these words already in his letter.

The first word was in chapter 1, verse 17.

Where he told us to “live your lives as strangers [paroikias] here in reverent fear.”

And the second word he used in the very first verse, chapter 1, verse 1 when he called us, “God’s elect, strangers in the world [parepidaymois].

Are you beginning to think with me that the Apostle Peter is serious about wanting us to consider ourselves as outsiders?

To not get too comfortable where we are.

He actually says that he “urges” us to think of ourselves this way.

Now, Peter’s first readers may have actually been foreigners and may have actually been in exile from somewhere, either Israel or Rome. 

But Peter wants them to lean into that identity. To not just be foreigners and exiles physically but spiritually.

Our King Jesus said that His kingdom is not of this world. And we are supposed to  be citizens of His kingdom, so we are not supposed to think of ourselves as primarily from this world.

We live here. But we’re not from here.

We’re just visitors.

We’re pilgrims.

We’re sojourners.

We’re a lot like Abraham in this respect.

Remember Abraham, in the book of Genesis? In one sense, the promised land was going to be ultimately his, but when he actually lived there, it never was.

In fact, in Genesis 34, when he wanted to buy a burial plot to bury his wife Sarah, he said this to the Hittites he was trying to buy it off of:

Abraham said, “I am an alien and a stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.”

Guess which words are used in the Greek translation of the Old Testament that we call the Septuagint?

“I am a paroikos and a parepidaymos.”

I’m not from here.

This is not my home.

I’m a foreigner here.

I’m an outsider.

I’m a resident alien.

My mother-in-law was a resident alien of Canada. When she was living, I loved to poke fun of her as an “alien.” She was born in the U.S.A, but she married and moved to Canada without ever becoming a full citizen of Canada.

She was a resident alien. She was a foreigner, living there permanently until she died, but still a kind of outsider.

That’s kind of the idea of how Peter wants us to think about ourselves.

How are you doing at thinking of yourself in this way?

It’s kind of uncomfortable, isn’t it?

There’s a lot about being a foreigner that is uncomfortable.

Do you feel sometimes like you don’t quite fit in?

I think that this is a really helpful concept when you see, for example, where our culture is headed. Our society. In our nation. In the West.

There are things going on in our culture that make me feel uncomfortable, unsettled, different.

And Peter says, “Good. That’s good. Lean into that feeling. Remember that that’s true. That’s the way it actually is. Don’t get too comfortable.”

Remember you’re a foreigner.

Remember you’re an exile.

Remember you’re a sojourner, an outsider.

You shouldn’t be just like the people around you practicing all of the same customs, having all of the same values.

You should stand out as different.

You should not just fit in.

That’s not easy.

Our tendency is to conform.

Especially if there is social pressure on us to conform.

To act like the people around us. 

To do the exact same things they do.

To care about the exact same things they do.

To talk the exact same way they do.

And it gets worse if the social pressure gets worse and actually becomes persecution.

That’s what Peter’s readers were feeling. They were feeling the heat.

And Peter says, “That’s right. Lean into that. Never forget that you are foreigners and exiles.”

That’s not easy, but there is one other thing that he says in verse 11 before he calls us “foreigners and exiles” that makes it all possible and all right.

He calls us...“beloved.” Verse 11 again.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world...]”

The word translated “dear friends” in the Greek is “agapaytoi.” Which we have studied together in years before.

You hear the word “agapay” in there? Love?

This is the word “beloved.”

And, I don’t think it’s just Peter that loves these folks.

These precious people, these foreigners, these exiles while living very uncomfortably are also very much loved by God.

They are beloved.

So let me ask you: Do you have a privileged status?

Well, in a sense, no. We can expect trouble. Trouble in whatever society we are found in. Trouble in whatever neighborhood we are found in. Trouble in whatever country we are found in. Trouble in whatever political party we are found in. Trouble in whatever natural family we are found in.

We are always going to outsiders to some extent, as followers of Jesus Christ, and that will spell trouble. We will encounter opposition, hostility, and uncomfortability.

But do we have a privileged status?

Oh yes we do! Because we are beloved citizens of a different homeland!

Remember what Peter just said to them in the sentences right above this one. Verses 9 and 10, where he told them they are “a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation [not America, the Church], a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. Dear friends..."

“Beloved!” That’s who you are.

You are beloved foreigners and beloved exiles.

Never forget it.

And always live like it.

So, if that’s true, if that’s how we’re supposed to think of ourselves, then how are we actually supposed to live?

How do we stand out? 

Because in some ways we’re not supposed to stand out.

In many ways, we will look and act like the people around us. Jesus did!

It’s not like we’re supposed to try to be offensive or different for different’s sake.

Remember Jesus said that we are supposed to be in the world, just not of it.

So what does Peter say that we should do?

Two things:

Fight Your Bad Desires And Live a Beautiful Life.

Let’s look at them one at a time. Verse 11 once again.

“Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul.”

Peter says that you are going to have desires, wants that are his word is actually something like “fleshly” but it doesn’t just mean physical, it means base or evil or natural.

You’re going to have desires to do bad things (according to God’s reckoning of what is bad). Don’t give in!

Abstain from sinful desires which wage war against your soul.

In other words, there’s a war going on inside of you.

Don’t just do what comes naturally.

Fight back!

#1. FIGHT YOUR BAD DESIRES.

And fight back as a beloved foreigner as a beloved exile.

The world around is going to say, “You do you!”

Right? And there’s nothing wrong with that when the you there is a holy you.

It’s okay to be different.

But don’t just do what comes naturally. 

Don’t just do you. Do the new you.

Or as Peter has already said to us, “Be holy in all you do.”

Let me give you some f’rinstances.

Everybody else at work pads their expense account, do you?

If everyone at school uses the Lord's precious name as a swear word, do you?

You’re probably tempted to sometimes.

If all of your friends spend all of their discretionary money on a bigger and better vehicle each year. Do you? It sure looks good.

The discussion around the water cooler (do they have those any more?) is gossip, talking about people, or dirty jokes, do you laugh? Do you spread some, too?

Your buddies say that revenge is sweet, and that you are justified in bitterly not speaking to her ever again. Do you reconcile with and forgive her?

Your friends stay up late on Saturday nights watching stupidity on television or wasting time on the social media so that they are too tired to worship God with the full glad heart He deserves. Do you do the same? Or are you in bed by ten on Saturday nights to be ready for worship with freshness?

The people around you are spreading outrage and shame and lies and fear on social media. And you are tempted (oh so tempted) to press like or angry face or share it yourself.

Fight your bad desires.

As a beloved foreigner, as a beloved exile.

Is that going to get you in trouble?

Yes, sometimes, it will.

You will be accused of being a goodie-two-shoes. 

You will be excluded from the best seats in some clubs.

You will not race to the top in some social settings.

You will encounter hostility. 

Sometimes you won’t. Sometimes the world will respect the stands you take. Sometimes the values of the kingdom are appreciated even by those not in the kingdom, but often we will go against the grain.

And it will get hard.

This letter is going to get hard. 

Because we’re foreigners. We’re exiles. We’re outsiders.

We’re not from around here.

But we are loved. And so we can say, “No to the sinful desires that wage war against our souls.”

You can say, “No!”

You can say, “No” to porn.

You can say, “No” lust.

You can say, “No” to racism.

You can say, “No” to gossip.

You can say, “No” to “hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” I just pulled those from Galatians chapter 5.

Those things come naturally, but we don’t have to do them.

You can win this war.

Fight your bad desires.

#2. LIVE YOUR BEAUTIFUL LIFE. That’s verse 12.

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.”

The word there for good which is in there twice is “kalos,” and it means good, but not just good in the sense of right instead of wrong. It means good in the sense of praiseworthy and beautiful. Some translations have “honorable.”

The dictionary says that it could be translated, “fitting, proper, fine, precious, beautiful.”

Beautiful conduct, beautiful deeds.

As foreigners! As exiles!

We’re supposed live our lives, Peter says, “among the pagans” among our unbelieving neighbors (as foreigners) in such a way that even though they malign us, even though they get hostile towards us, they still see our beautiful deeds, and it makes a difference!

Now, I don’t know about you, but I kind of balk at the idea of living a beautiful life so that the people around me can see my good deeds.

I thought I was supposed to not show off what a good person I am?!

That’s true.

The focus needs to constantly shift off of us and onto our Savior.

But we are supposed to shine!

Remember what our King said in the Sermon on the Mount? Matthew chapter 5? I think that Peter is reflecting it here.

King Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:13-16).

Same word for good there. “Beautiful deeds.”

Shine!

We fight the war against our evil desires internally.

And then externally, we live out our good deeds before the watching world.

Like what?

Well, if we kept going in Galatians 5, the list would include, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” That’s the fruit of the Spirit, and it sounds beautiful to me.

Let me give you some f’rinstances for this one:

Sacrifice something for someone.

Help someone.

Pray for someone.

Pray with someone.

Minister to someone at work.

Do your job really really well when no one is looking!

Volunteer.

Call someone to encourage them.

Keep your promises.

Forgive someone.

Apologize to someone.

Stand up for someone who is being picked on or talked about.

There’s a million ways to shine.

And it will stand out if you keep doing it.

As Christians, we should not be primarily defined by what we do not do.

But by what we do!

Because make no mistake, people are watching.

And they are forming opinions not just about us but about our God by watching us.

What conclusions can your neighbors draw about God by watching your life?

I’ve been reading a great book by Elliot Clark entitled, Evangelism As Exiles, and he’s writing it based upon 1 Peter.

Clark was a missionary in Central Asia among a primarily Muslim population. And in chapter 5 tells the story of his wife’s close friendship with their nextdoor neighbor named Asmin, the mother of three and a nurse at nearby hospital.

Mrs. Clark and Asmin became friends over time visiting each other’s homes and getting to know each other well. One Christmas season, Asmin visited the Clark’s home and took pictures of their Advent calendar and Christmas decorations. And she was going to take that to the hospital and show it to her co-workers as a thing of interest. 

And then this happened. It’s on page 112 and 113:

"One day, when my wife had to go to the hospital for some tests, Asmin invited her to the urology floor where she was on duty. They met at the nurses’ station, then Asmin invited her into the break room. There in a small room, huddled around an old television as curls of cigarette smoke exited an open window, a cadre of nurses sought respite from their rounds–or perhaps they were there for the coming show.

Asmin introduced my wife as her American neighbor and friend, and as a Christian. However, she quickly gave one important caveat, ‘Not the kind of Christian you think.’ As doctors and orderlies peeked into the door, she explained how our family was honorable and kind. How my wife and daughters dressed modestly. How I was faithful in our marriage. How we were clean and considerate. We were Christians, yes; we were actually people of good character. We were neighbors they could trust."

Now, you say, “How strange!” but sadly many supposed Christians have given the name of Jesus a black eye.

And our neighbors are watching.

This isn’t just happening in majority Muslim countries.

This is happening here in America where we are supposed to have a lot of Christians.

Some supposed followers of Christ have given the name of Jesus a black eye. They have just given in to their evil desires and just fit in with the crowds around them.

And our neighbors are watching.

They are watching to see if this gospel, this good news that we proclaim that we sang about today and celebrate on Reformation Sunday, if this gospel actually changes lives and makes them beautiful.

Peter says it does!

And he says we are loved.

And he reminds us that we are outsiders. 

We are foreigners and exiles, and we ought to live like it.

Because when our neighbors see us living these kind of lives, even if they are mad at us, and even if they say we’re bad, and even if they take our jobs, and our money, and our lives they will have to give an account to God for that on the day He visits us.

And some of them, will even say, “Oh. They are different. And I want a piece of that! I want what they have. I want a beautiful life.”

And they will glorify God not through judgment but through salvation on the day He comes to visit us.

Because, beloved, Jesus is coming again.

We don’t ultimately live this way for our pagan neighbors, we live this way for our coming king.

Because one day, we won’t be foreigners or exiles any more.

We won’t be outsiders. We will be inside.

We will be home.

***

Readers with long memories may catch that I've re-used some wording from a 2014 message on this same text, "Living the Christian Life Today" (which used some wording from a 2001 message--pre-blog--on this text, as well, entitled, "Bad Desires and Good Deeds."]

***

Previous Messages in This Series

01. "Elect Exiles" 1 Peter 1:1-2
02. "A Living Hope" 1 Peter 1:3-7
03. "Angels Long To Look Into These Things" 1 Peter 1:8-12
04. "Be Holy In All You Do" 1 Peter 1:13-16
05. "Live Your Lives As Strangers Here In Reverent Fear" 1 Peter 1:17-21
06. "Love Each Other Deeply, From the Heart" 1 Peter 1:22-2:3
07. "But Now You Are..."

Read More

“But Now You Are...” [Matt's Messages]

“But Now You Are...”

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

October 17, 2021 :: 1 Peter 2:4-10

Something wonderful has happened to us.

Something wonderful has happened to you and me, and it has changed our status.

It has changed our identity. 

Something wonderful has happened to us that has changed who we really are.

And Peter wants to tell us about it.

Peter is just bursting with the news. He wants us to know what we have become.

In many ways, 1 Peter is full of bad news, or at least difficult news to absorb. Peter often has hard things he needs to tell us, things we don’t necessarily want to hear. He has to tell us about some very hard things that we are called to do. And about some very hard things that we are going to endure.

He’s already told us that we are going to go through fiery trials. That does not sound like fun! And Peter says that they are normal and to be expected. There are more fiery trials on the way. And he’s already told us that we are displaced. That we are not home yet. That we are exiles, aliens, strangers, foreigners not in our true homeland.

He’s going to hit that even harder in verse 11 when we get it to it next time.

But Peter has also told us some glorious wonderful beautiful things about us already, as well.

He’s told us about our inheritance. About that living hope that we’ve been born again into. About how perfectly safe our inheritance is being kept for us in heaven. And about how we are receiving the goal of our faith the very salvation of our souls. Prophets searched intently to understand and angels long to look into these things.

But he’s got even more to say about these wonderful things that have happened to us and how it has changed our very identity.

If you look on the back of your worship bulletin, you’ll see that I’ve entitled this message with four words that are lifted right out of our last verse for today, chapter 2 verse 10. 

“But Now You Are...”

You had been one thing, but now you are something completely different, and it’s completely wonderful!

All because of Jesus Christ.

“But Now You Are...”

#1. LIVING STONES.

In this message, I’ve going to try to summarize verses 4 through 10 in just two big ideas. And the first is from verses 4 through 8 which teaches the wonderful truth that Peter’s readers including you and I are now “living stones.”

Now that is a strange combination of words if I ever heard one!

Living. Stones.

Stones that are alive.

That should make you sit up and think a little bit.

Why living stones?

By the way, it’s a metaphor (or actually a simile). We are not literally made out of stones. We may be living, but we’re not actually stones. We’re like living stones.

I think that Peter wants to bring together the idea of stability and power. Strength and life. A stone is something solid and stable and strong. And life is, well, life! It’s vibrant and animated and powerful. 

And he’s also drawing his imagery from his beloved Old Testament. 

I’ve mentioned several times already this Fall that the Apostle Peter loved his Old Testament. He has just come off of alluding to Psalm 34 in verse 3, “now that you have tasted that Lord is good.”

Now, Peter reaches back into Isaiah 28, Psalm 118, and Isaiah 8 all of which talk about stones. Let’s see what he says. First verse. Chapter 2, verse 4. 

“As you come to him, the living Stone [there is One “the Living Stone!”]–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him–you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” Stop there for a second.

Do you get a picture start to form in your head?

There’s One great big stone that is alive. It’s Personal. It’s a Person. But He’s so solid and stable and strong that He’s also a Rock.

And Peter says that his readers (that we) are coming to Him. And in the previous verse the him was the Lord. He’s the Living Stone.

He was rejected by men (more on that in verse 7), but He was chosen by God and precious to Him.

“This is my Beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.”

And as we come to Him, which happened at our conversion and happens every time and every day as we move towards Christ in faith, we are living stones ourselves. Our lives have stability and even more than that we are being used in a great spiritual building project!

We’re part of a glorious construction project.

Peter says (v.5), we are “being built into a spiritual house.” I think like a temple.

A house for the Spirit.

Do you think of yourself as building material?

Something you might pick up at Lowes or YBC?

In the ancient world, they didn’t have concrete block. When I preached this same book 20 years ago, we were in the process of building our home in Lanse. And I stole one of the building blocks for the foundation and brought it up here to the pulpit to illustrate the point.

But they didn’t have concrete block. They had stones. The best builders would look for the best, most solid, most strong stones to join together to make the foundation and even the walls of the building they were building.

And they would especially look for one great big strong stone to be the cornerstone.

And build everything off of that. Look at verse 6. Peter is quoting Isaiah chapter 28  when the Lord Himself announced a great building project upon which He was embarking. Verse 6.

“For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’”

We know that this building project is the Kingdom of God and we know Who the cornerstone is, as well. Don’t we?

Who is it?

It’s Jesus. Notice that it says that He is “precious.” Same word as verse 4. 

And the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.

Doesn’t that sound good? 

These precious people that Peter was writing to were probably experiencing shame being put them. Foreigners often are. Foreigners are often shamed.

But Peter says that Isaiah says that God says that if you put your trust in Jesus (The Living Stone!) you will never be put to shame before Him.

However, you will be put shame if you refuse to put your trust in Him. V.7

“Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone,’ and, ‘A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.’” 

There he’s quoting Psalm 118 and Isaiah 8.

Jesus Himself used Psalm 118 to describe Himself. Peter probably heard Him say it Himself many times.

The builders looked around for a cornerstone, looked for a capstone, and they found Jesus! But then they threw Him out. They crucified Him on the Cross. They rejected that Living Stone.

But Jesus was Chosen by God and precious to Him.

The stone at the tomb was rolled away, and this Stone lived again.

And became the capstone!

Notice how consequential those decisions are. 

If you reject Jesus, you stumble and fall. 

But if you trust in Him, then you will never be put to shame. 

Have you come to trust in Jesus?

I invite you to do so right here and right now.

He’s the Living Stone!

He’s what you want to build you life upon.

And even more than that, He transforms you and me into a wonderful part of His glorious building project.

Here’s what you are if you are trusting in Christ:

Living Stones. V.5 again.

“[Y]ou also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.”

This is wonderful.

It’s a little foreign to our ears, but just think about it a little bit.

I think he’s saying that you and I are each a stone in a great big temple being built.

A place filled with the Spirit, filled with the worship of God.

Paul talks in a very similar way in Ephesians chapter 2. You might want to read it this afternoon.

And one of the things I love about that is that you and I are not in the temple, but we are the temple. We are the living stones that make up the spiritual house.

Turn to the person next to you and say, “We are living stones.”

See we don’t need a building. Buildings are nice to have. This is a great building. But this isn’t the church. This is the church. The folks out there are the church. The folks in here are the church.”

“We are living stones.”

We are a part of something supernatural and wonderful.

And we are in this together.

These people may have been foreigners but they were foreigners together, right?

Last week, “love one another deeply from the heart.” Because we are in this together.

We are like bricks being placed right up next to each other. Or those stones out front of our building. As we come to Him, He is taking each one of us and building something beautiful out of us. Together!

And then in verse 5, he mixes the metaphor. He says that we are being built into a spiritual house “to be a holy priesthood.”

So it’s a house that is also a group of priests. 

It’s not one or the other. It’s both/and. We’re both the temple and the priests inside of it kind of I guess. 

Do you think of yourself as part of a holy priesthood? You better! Because that’s what Peter says your being included into.

Priests represent God to humans and humans to God. And so do we.

I’m not a priest any more than you are, but we both together are! 

And here’s what we supposed to do. Application. V.5

- Offer Spiritual Sacrifices Acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

That’s what we get to do! We get to offer spiritual sacrifices (not physical ones, not bulls and goats and lambs and all of that Old Testament stuff but spiritual sacrifices) pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

Like what?

Like our bodies. Romans 12:1“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship.”

Or like our money. Philippians 4:18-19, “I have received ... [the monetary] gifts you sent. They are a fragrant offering, an acceptable sacrifice, pleasing to God. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.”

Or like our praises. Hebrews 13:15-16, “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise–the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.”

See, we get to make those sacrifices now. We get to offer those sacrifices.

Because we are living stones TO BE a holy priesthood.

What sacrifices are you offering today?

What sacrifices are you to offer this week?

Not to impress God! Not to earn anything. These sacrifices are “through Jesus Christ.” He’s the One who has already impressed God! He’s already made the propitiating sacrifice. We just add ours as grateful worship through Him. 

Because we are living stones. 

Unless you aren’t. Some people hear all of this, and they reject Jesus. V.8 

“They stumble because they disobey the message–which is also what they were destined for. [But not Peter’s readers and hopefully not you and me. V.9] But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

#2. GOD’S OWN PEOPLE.

“But now you are the people of God.”

Not just living stones, but God’s own chosen, royal, priestly, holy, special, people upon whom He has bestowed His sweet mercy.

I love these verses!

I told Heather Joy yesterday that I didn’t want to preach this message because I love these words so much and I know that I can’t begin to do them justice.

Something wonderful has happened to us.

This is who we are.

It’s important to know who you are.

If you don’t know who you are, somebody will slap a label on you and tell you who they want you to be.

This is who we are. Look down at verses 9 and 10. This is who we are.

Together. This is a corporate reality. This is the whole Church, not just us each of us as individuals. V.9 again.

“But you are a chosen people...” 

Some of you have “chosen race” there. The Greek word is “genos,” and it is sometimes translated, “family, race, nation, people, offspring, descendants, sort, or kind.”

Remember, the Christians were not all of one racial or ethnic group. They were from all over. Maybe originally from Judea. Maybe originally from Rome.

But they were scattered throughout Asia Minor. “Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia...”

But Peter says that they are all one people in Christ, whatever their race.

And they are chosen. They are elect. They are wanted. They are accepted. They are beloved. 

If you are in Christ, you are in the chosen people of God. Feel that!

But there’s more. Peter says, “But you are” “a royal priesthood.”

Verse 5 said that we are a holy priesthood. Verse 9 says that we are royal.

The language here is drawn from Exodus chapter 19, verses 5 and 6.

The people of Israel were supposed to be a holy priesthood that had a holy priesthood.

And now the Church is living up to all that Israel was supposed to be.

We are a royal priesthood.

Try those words on for size. What an honor! Do you know that you are royalty? You are a Son of the King of the Universe. You are a Daughter of the King of the Universe. You are in the royal family.

And you’re not just royal. You are priestly. You represent God to other humans.

We do. Together! All of us. “The priesthood of all believers.”

This is who we are!

Think about the honor this is. Think about the privilege. Think about the status of this.

I know it doesn’t feel like it. Let me tell you: It did not feel like it to the people whom Peter was writing to.

They were getting kicked around for being Christians. And Peter said that more of that was on the way.

And he doesn’t say to fight back. To stand on your rights.

But he does say to hold up your head high. You are a part of a royal priesthood.

You may be a foreigner with very little status here. But in your homeland? You are royalty! 

There’s more. Next phrase, “But you are...a holy nation.”

That’s the word “ethnos” in the Greek. From which we get ethnic groups. Nationalities. Cultural collections of people.

It’s the same word in the Great Commission that we’re supposed to reach with the gospel and make disciples of all “ethnay” for Jesus Christ.

Well, when you become a disciple of Jesus Christ, you are placed in a new “ethnay” a holy one. 

There he goes again. Peter wants us to be holy in all that we do. Be holy as the Lord is holy. Why? Because we are holy.

In fact we are (v.9) “a people belonging to God.”

That’s it right there. We are His special possession.

We belong to God.

That’s who we are.

Those whose we are.

Even more fundamental than knowing who you are is to know whose you are.

And we became that ay because of God’s mercy. Look at verse 10.

“Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.”

Does that sound familiar?

Peter is quoting the Old Testament again. This time it’s the prophecy of Hosea (chapter 2).

Hosea told wayward Israel that they were no longer considered God’s people because of their spiritual adultery in idolatry.

But he prophesied of a day when God’s mercy would rest on them and bring them back.

And the New Testament tells us that that prophecy was fully fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

And not just for ethnic Israel, but for Jew and Gentile together in the Church!

For us.

Something wonderful has happened to us.

We used to be “not a people.” We used to be not have mercy.

But now we are God’s own people!

Because of Jesus Christ, we have received mercy.

Isn’t that wonderful?!

We are God’s own people.

Turn to the person next to you and say, "We are God's own people!"

What do you do with that?

Well, Peter tells us that, too. He says there’s a reason, a purpose to our being God’s own special possession. Look again at verse 9.

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

Application? 

Declare the praises of Jesus Christ.

Praise Jesus for saving you. Calling you out of darkness and into HIS WONDERFUL LIGHT. Doesn’t that just sound beautiful??!

Declare the praises of Jesus Christ.

Not just here. 

But out there.

And don’t mean under the tent or in the parking lot.

I mean out there in the big bad world.

Peter says that we have been included in God’s own people so that we will declare the praises of Jesus Christ for bringing us out of darkness and into His wonderful light.

Are we going to do that?

I feel like I’ve agreed with everything I’ve heard and said today, but then at the very end, I’m not sure I’m really willing to do that.

I mean, I’m doing it up here.  But out there?

Who could you declare the praises of Jesus to this afternoon?

Who could you declare how great Jesus is for calling you out of darkness and into His wonderful light tomorrow or Tuesday or Wednesday or Thursday or Friday?

Have you been shown mercy?

Are you a living stone?

Have you gone from darkness to light?

Tell somebody. 

Declare it to somebody, in fact.

Get on social media this afternoon and declare how great Jesus is for saving you.

Get on the phone.

Tell somebody over the neighboring fence.

Tell somebody at the water cooler.

Tell somebody at their locker.

Tell somebody on the street.

Something wonderful has happened to us. 

And it’s all because of Jesus. 

Offer spiritual sacrifices through Jesus and declare the praises of Jesus.

***

Previous Messages in This Series

01. "Elect Exiles" 1 Peter 1:1-2
02. "A Living Hope" 1 Peter 1:3-7
03. "Angels Long To Look Into These Things" 1 Peter 1:8-12
04. "Be Holy In All You Do" 1 Peter 1:13-16
05. "Live Your Lives As Strangers Here In Reverent Fear" 1 Peter 1:17-21

06. "Love Each Other Deeply, From the Heart" 1 Peter 1:22-2:3

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I passed my ordination council! (20 years ago)

Exactly 20 years ago this very weekend, I sat for my ordination examination council by pastors and leaders from across the Allegheny District and members of Lanse Evangelical Free Church. And I passed! 

Two decades later, I am grateful for the gospel-centered doctrinal faithfulness of the Evangelical Free Church of America and am privileged to help lead the effort to provide credentials for those in vocational ministry in our association. I love the accountability and interdependence that our EFCA credentials provide.

If you are in the EFCA and haven't jumped into it yet, I commend our EFCA credentialing process to you.

If you are in our Allegheny District, check out the 4 step guide we have created to lead you through the process.

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“Love One Another Deeply, From the Heart” [Matt's Messages]

“Love One Another Deeply, From the Heart”

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

October 10, 2021 :: 1 Peter 1:22-2:3

“Love one another deeply, from the heart.”

Those are the words of the Apostle Peter in chapter 1, verse 22.

And they are the title of our message for today.

And they are God’s Word to us today.

This is what He wants us to hear and to obey:

“Lanse Free Church, love one another deeply from the heart.”

Let those words roll around a little inside of you:

“Love one another deeply, from the heart.”

The first thing I noticed is that it’s a command.

This isn’t something that we do naturally. It’s something that we have to be told to do.

And, at least on some level, we can choose to do this. It’s something that we either obey or disobey, we either obey or do not obey.

“Love one another deeply, from the heart.”

It also doesn’t sound, at first, counter-cultural. These words don’t sound as strange as last week’s command from verse 17, “Live your lives as [foreigners] here in reverent fear.”

That sounds strange in the ears of our culture, as did the big command right before that one back in verse 15, “Be holy in all you do.”

Those two sound much more counter-cultural, but this one doesn’t, “Love one another deeply, from the heart.”

Of course, it is counter-cultural, isn’t it? If you actually do it. Our culture is not known for actually loving each other, deeply from the heart.

Sadly, so often, professing Christians are not known for it either...

“Love one another deeply, from the heart.”

This is clearly something that can be done poorly.

The opposite of “deeply” would be shallowly, right?

The Greek word translated “deeply” in verse 22 is also translated in other English Versions as “earnestly,” “fervently,” “constantly.”

Peter obviously wants real active love here, and not fake love.

He wants his readers to love one another from their hearts. Not just on the outside. Not just a superficial “love.” Not just a theoretical “love.” Not just a “love” when it’s convenient. But “deeply, from the” real you inside of you, from the deepest part of you. From the heart.

All of a sudden, what sounds so nice, you realize is not so easy after all.

Especially when you think about whom you are called to love.

Whom does Peter tell his readers to love deeply, from the heart?

“One another.”

Peter is commanding the elect exiles, the chosen foreigners scattered throughout Asia Minor to love one another. 

Christians loving each other deeply from the heart.

I want you to take a second and look around you for a minute at the other people around you.

If you are inside, the people on the pew beside you and in front of you and look behind you.

And the same for you folks under the tent. Look all the way around you.

Look across the room. Look across the tent.

If you are in the parking lot, look at the people in the cars and trucks around you that you can see. Or think about the people that you saw walk into the building this morning. Or came out to greet you and bring you a worship bulletin.

Make this very personal today.

These are some of the people that Peter is telling you and me to love deeply, earnestly, fervently, constantly from your heart.

How’re you doing at that?

Foreigners need one another.

Foreigners, exiles, need one another, don’t they?

If you are an exile, living in a land which is not your homeland, and you find other exiles, other foreigners, like you living in that land, you should latch onto each other shouldn’t you? Especially if you speak the same language!

You could help one another to navigate living in that foreign land.

Foreigners need one another.

And, remember, Peter says that you and I are foreigners here.

And so we need to hang together, and more than that, to love one another deeply from the heart.

What does that look like?

Well, it’s going to look different in different situations.

You’re going to love some of the people in this room in some ways and some in other ways depending on a lot of circumstances.

But in none of the circumstances are we called to un-love or to hate or to be indifferent to one another.

“Love one another deeply, from the heart.”

What does that look like?

Well, the rest of the New Testament fills out the command to love one another with a whole bunch of other things that we are supposed to do to and for one another.

There’s at least 50. Let me give you just a few:

At the end of this letter, Peter is going to say, “Greet one another” (1 Peter 5:14).

That’s a way of loving one another. Just simply greeting one another on Sundays or whenever you see other Christians.

Did you greet some people this morning? Some of you are introverts who get depleted by greeting others. I understand. I commend you for expending yourself in that way, deeply from your heart. You might only get one genuine greeting in on a Sunday, but it might be the one person who really needs that. And you gave it to them.

By the way, if you are worshiping from your vehicles on Sunday mornings, what can you do out there to greet other Christians in this kind of Christian love?

You might have to get creative. COVID has caused us all to have to get creative. But  we all have to find our way to obedience to this command, “Love one another deeply, from the heart.” Maybe you can jump out of your car and greet folks at 6 foot distance before and after church.

Here’s another one: “Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves” (that’s Romans 12:10).

Whom have you honored recently? What fellow Christian have you given honor to in recent days? Is there someone sitting near you that you can praise God for and tell somebody else how much you appreciate them? 

Here’s another one: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you” (Romans 15:7). Welcome them. Take them as they are. Receive them. 

Even if they are different from you! Especially, if they’re different from you. Christians are not all the same. The Christians in this room [just look at them!] are very different from one another. But we all have Christ in common so we accept one another.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another” (Ephesians 4:32). This is the way the we’re supposed to speak to one another. To treat one another as fellow Christians. Yes, we’re supposed to do that to nonChristians, too. But just start with the church. Are you being kind and compassionate and loving people deeply from the heart?

Don’t ask if others have been kind and compassionate to you. Ask if you have been kind and compassionate to the other Christians in your life?

Ephesians 4:2: “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.” Putting up with each other. Being longsuffering.

“Encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

“Spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24).

“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19). Don’t leave that up to the worship leaders up front.       

“Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).

This is what it means to “love one another deeply, from the heart.”

One more from 1 Peter, chapter 4, verse 9. “Offer hospitality to one another.” Have each other in your homes. Get each other on the phone. Jump on Zoom together. Get on Facetime. Eat together. Hospitality. We’ll talk about that more when we get to chapter 4.

Do you see how active this is?

This isn’t just a feeling. 

It’s not just “have warm fuzzies for other Christians.”

Our Lord Jesus said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all [people] will know that you are my [followers]” (John 13:34-35).

And Peter is just underlining that and putting it in all caps and 40 point font.

“Love one another deeply [earnestly, fervently, constantly], from the heart.”

Of course, that’s not all that Peter says here. It’s just the central thrust, the main command. 

He also tells us WHY and HOW to love one another like this.

Let’s start with why, and let’s read the whole verse and verse 23. 1 Peter 1:22-23.

“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”

Peter says that we should love one another deeply from the heart because:

#1. WE WERE BORN AGAIN FOR THIS.

Did you ever think about why you were born again?

Why God gave you new birth by His Holy Spirit?

I mean, there’s a lot of reasons. Yes, it was for our forgiveness.

As verse 22 says, “You have purified yourselves by obeying the truth.” I think that’s talking about the truth of the gospel and their conversions to being true believers.

They have put their trust in the Lord Jesus and His gospel for their salvation and have been purified. Remember verse 2, we have been “been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying (purifying) work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood...”

But verse 22 says that we have been purified like this SO THAT we “have sincere love for [our] brothers.” The Greek word for that is “Philadelphian.” Brotherly love. The real thing. Sincere love.

Think about this: You were born again to love other Christians.

You were born again to love the brethren.

You were born again, not just for yourself, but for rest of the Church.

And of course, it takes that kind of new birth to actually do this kind of loving.

It’s not natural. It’s supernatural.

That’s the point of verse 23.

“[L]ove one another deeply, from the heart. [WHY?] For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”

Peter loves that word “imperishable.” It’s in verse 4, “never perish” about our inheritance. He’s going to use it again in chapter 3.

Here he says that we have been born again from an imperishable seed.

I think that means a supernatural undying seed. 

Perishable seed is like human seed. When we are naturally born of human seed, we live and then we die.

So our natural life has a natural end. It’s very temporary and transitory and limited.

And if that’s all we have, our love is going to be very temporary and transitory and limited.

That’s all the kind of love that the world can muster up.

But Christians have not just been born; we have been born again. Born anew.

And born to live and then live some more and then live some more and then live some more. And even if we die, to live some more and then some more and then some more and then some more!

Because this seed is imperishable. It’s the seed of the Word of God.

And that’s living and enduring.

And to prove that, Peter reaches back into his beloved Old Testament and quotes Isaiah chapter 40. V.24.

“For, ‘All men are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.”

It’s Autumn right now which is my favorite season. I like all 3 of the good seasons, Spring, Summer, and Fall. But Fall has always been my favorite.

The leaves the change. It’s so beautiful. The harvest comes in. There’s a crispness in the air. Football season. I was the drum major for the marching band in high school. Loved to get out there on the field and perform. And Autumn was also the time you get to go back to school! Which has always been a favorite thing for me. New books and teachers to tell you which books are the best ones to read. Woohoo!

But as the Fall comes, then comes that other season, the season of death. We won’t name it here today.

But it’s the time when we are reminded of death and how transitory and temporary and weak we are. We are like grass and all of OUR glory is like the flowers of the field which withers and falls.

But the Word of God stands forever!

And that’s the word that has been preached to you and put inside of you as a seed to give you a new birth not just into a living hope but a sincere love for other Christians!

You have been born again to love this way and given an undying power to do it!

You have an undying power to love other Christians!

If you are a genuine Christian.

You have an undying power to love other Christians. Inside of you.

So you can love them deeply, from the heart. We were born again for this!

That’s WHY and bit of HOW. Here’s some more how. Look at chapter 2, verse 1.

“Therefore [because of this living and enduring powerful word implanted in you], rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”

This is the manner in which we are to love deeply:

#2. WE RID OURSELVES OF UN-LOVE.

Some translations say, “Lay aside” or “Throw off” or “Be done with” these things.

I like the NIV’s “rid yourselves.”’

We have a phrase around here in Western Pennsylvania that I didn’t grow up with.

Do you say, “Rid up” or “Rid out?”

Like “I’m going to rid up the garage this weekend.”

Which has the idea of organizing, but also getting rid of things that don’t belong in there, right?

These things do not belong in the Church or in an individual Christian:

“Malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”

Malice is harboring hate or spite or venom in your heart towards another Christian.

Deceit is lies.

Hypocrisy is being fake.

Envy is coveting what someone else has.

Slander is spreading falsehoods or gossip, talking against your fellow Christian in a damaging way.

These are all un-love. And they have to go.

And we all agree with that, right?

Until the Spirit puts His finger on us and says, “That’s you right now. And it’s gotta go.”

Ask Him to help you rid up your heart of these un-loving attitudes and actions.

And then one more word about HOW to do this loving deeply. You do it by drinking down the pure spiritual milk of the Word.

#3. WE GREEDILY CONSUME THE WORD OF GOD. V.2

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Peter loves his Old Testament. That’s quote a from Psalm 34 that we studied together back in April.

We have tasted the Lord is good.

So now we seek even more.

Peter says that we ought to be like babies!

I think that’s great. Be like babies.

If somebody asks you what you learned in the sermon today, you can say, “The Bible says that we ought to act like babies!”

In one way, at least.

We have a lot of babies in this church right now. I count at least 6 about one year or less.

Do any of those little ones like to eat?

Do they let you know when they’re hungry?

Does it seem like they’re hungry a lot?

Especially, when they’re newborns, right? They eat all of the time.

Their little tummies are so hungry!

Peter says, “Be like a baby.”

You’ve tasted how good the Lord is?

Start yelling for more.

“More, please!”

You can find it in here. “More, please. “Please, more of this good, pure stuff.”

Are you wondering where you will get the wherewithal, the sustenance, to love some of these people?

You know, some of these people are not easy to love.

I know that I can be hard to love at times.

Christians can be hard to love.

So we greedily consume more and more and more and more of the word of God.

“Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.”

Are you growing up in your salvation?

You can tell if you are loving your brothers and sisters deeply, from you heart.

***

Previous Messages in This Series

01. "Elect Exiles" 1 Peter 1:1-2
02. "A Living Hope" 1 Peter 1:3-7
03. "Angels Long To Look Into These Things" 1 Peter 1:8-12
04. "Be Holy In All You Do" 1 Peter 1:13-16
05. "Live Your Lives As Strangers Here In Reverent Fear" 1 Peter 1:17-21

Read More

"Live Your Lives As Strangers Here In Reverent Fear" [Matt's Messages]

“Live Your Lives as Strangers Here in Reverent Fear”

Lanse Evangelical Free Church

October 3, 2021 :: 1 Peter 1:17-21

Is it good to live in fear?

Well, the answer must be, “It depends.”

My initial instinct, I don’t know about you, is to say that it is bad to live in fear.

Fear can be crippling. It can be paralyzing. It can make you cringe and make bad decisions.

But there apparently is also a healthy kind of fear that is good and right and even freeing and can lead to healthy, holy, and good decisions.

It must be so because we read these words (our message title for today) in 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 17, “Live Your Lives as Strangers Here in Reverent Fear.”

Take out all the modifying words in the middle, and that clause boils down to “live in fear.”

That’s what Peter wants us to do. “Live in fear.”

Which flows right out of the call of what we studied last time, “Be holy in all you do.”

In some way, it is good and right and healthy and holy to live your life in fear.

Now, the NIV has “in reverent” fear which is helpful because it points to who is being feared here in verse 17. It is God the Father. This is a holy kind of fear of a holy God.

But there is no actual Greek word for “reverent” in the Greek of verse 17. “It’s just "phobos. “Fear.” That “reverent” is just added in there in the English to clarify what kind fear it really is.

It is not a slavish kind of fear. Not a sinful kind of fear. Not a cringing kind of fear.

But it is a trembling kind of fear. A worshipful kind of fear. A trembling in wonder and worship and reverence and awe. A reverent fever.

But a fear nonetheless.

What the Bible calls in other places “the fear of the Lord.”

So living in fear can obviously be a very good thing.       

A proper fear of fearful things will help you to make wise choices.

For example, my son Andrew loves to work with very hot metal and very heavy hammers.

Do you think it would help or hurt for Drew have no fear whatsoever of hot metal or heavy hammers?

Should he not be careful around them? 

Should Drew handle those glowing sticks of steel in any way that he gets into his head?

Just however he feels at any moment? Grab whatever, wherever, swing it however?

Or should Drew have a proper fear of hot metal and heavy hammers?

I think it’s obvious. 

But so often we do not live with a proper fear of something so much more fearful, so often we do not live with a proper fear of God!

The opposite of this kind of reverent fear is irreverence, flippancy, or carelessness or thoughtlessness towards God.

It is going through life with no regard for God. No thought of God as you live your daily life. 

Or just a perfunctory one. We may acknowledge God with our lips. We may even open our day with prayer, but we do not live as if He is actually real and that we will have to one day actually give to Him an account.

Now, right here right now is the easy moment to start thinking about other people.

Other people and their failings in the fear of the Lord. “Those people.”

It’s easy to see this in other people’s lives. Those foolish people not thinking about God! Just look at them. Shaking our heads here.

But don’t start there. Ask yourself today how you yourself are doing at living your life as a stranger here in reverent fear.

Those words “as strangers here” are very important, too, in verse 17.

The ESV has “in the time of your exile.”

The KJV has, “the time of your sojourning.”

The 2011 NIV has “foreigners” instead of “strangers.” That’s really helpful. “Live out your time as foreigners here.”

It’s the same root word in Greek as in our current memory verse from chapter 2, verse 11. “Dear friends, I urge you as FOREIGNERS and EXILES, to abstain from sinful desires...”

Remember from chapter 1, verse 1, that Peter wants us to think of our ourselves as VERY DISPLACED? As not at home. Not living in our true homeland. As resident aliens.

Do you think of yourself as a foreigner in this world?

As somebody who is supposed to live differently?

Have you ever felt out of place somewhere?

Like you don’t really fit in there?

We say, “Like a fish out of water.”

Well, Peter’s first readers were apparently displaced foreigners themselves in some way, perhaps as literal exiles from either Israel or Rome. 

And Peter builds on their experience as foreigners to say, “Lean into that. That’s a great way to think of yourself here in this world. Not just in this country but in this broken world itself.”

We’re strangers; we’re foreigners.

Now, if you don’t fit in, if you are a foreigner, then you could be tempted to live in fear of your neighbors. Right?

I mean if the people around you are saying, “You’re not from around here, are you?” then you might be tempted to fear them and try to live your life to please them, right?

And to fit in. And just do what everybody around you is doing.

But Peter says, “Don’t give in to that temptation. Lean into your identity as a foreigner and fear God the Father instead.”

In other words, be different because God is watching.

Be different because your Father God is watching.

Be different from those around you (be a stranger) because you belong to a holy God.

“Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.”

How are you doing at that?

If you were to spend some time today evaluating your life against these words from the apostle Peter, how would you measure up?

Again, don’t think first about other people. Think about yourself here. Don’t look at the guy next to you. Look at yourself.

And this is about every area of your life.

For example, worship at church. Do you worship here in reverent fear?

Or are you flippant about it? Do you just stroll in and half-heartedly sing? Or not sing at all? Or think about something else when it’s time to sing? 

Or not prioritize gathered worship at all? Just doing it when it seems convenient. When it’s fun. Only when you feel like it.

Or do you fear God?

Or at work. Do you live your life as a foreigner at work in reverent fear?

Do you just go to work and do your job like everybody else?

Or do you worship at work? Do you do your job as unto the Lord in the fear of the Lord?

Do you seem different from your co-workers?

Are you something of a foreigner there?

Christians should be the best employees but also seem a little weird. A little strange. A little foreign.

Like they’re not there primarily for the paycheck.

“You’re not from around here, are you?”

“Your work is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. That’s weird! That’s foreign around here.”

How about your talk? How about the way you communicate on social media or in private conversation?

Do you post and text and message “as a foreigner here in reverent fear?” Or just like everybody else on Facebook or Twitter or Instagram?

Do you know that God reads every one of your posts?

I saw a post somewhere recently that said to remember that “The Lord follows you on social media.” And He reads every one of your DM’s, private messages, texts.

Do you sound like everybody else in your social media feed?

Or do you sound like “a stranger?”

Do you sound like a foreigner who is living here in reverent fear?

What are you doing with your sexuality?

Are you living just like the rest of the world with your private thoughts and your private parts?

Or are you living like a foreigner to this world in reverent fear?

Pursuing a holy sexuality. Private thoughts and private parts directed in the ways that God designed at creation.

It’s easy to point the finger at others and what they are doing with their sexuality.

How are you doing with yours? Where do you need to repent and to change?

“Live your lives as [foreigners] here in reverent fear.”

Don’t just bounce around thoughtlessly in conformity with the people around you and with no regard to the holiness of God in every area of your life.

Now, Peter doesn’t just tell us to do this. He also gives us very good reasons for  doing this which also reveal the power available to live this way.

I’m going to summarize it under two headings, and here’s number one.

Live your lives as foreigners here in reverent fear:

#1. BECAUSE OF YOUR IMPARTIAL FATHER.

We haven’t actually read yet from the beginning of verse 17; let’s do that now.

“Since you call on a Father who judges each man's work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.”

The most important word there in the first clause has to be the word “Father.”

That word controls the whole idea of fear in this verse.

That word “Father” shows that we are not supposed to be scared of God. No cringing.

If you are a little child and you have a good father, you’re not scared of him.

But you do fear him.

You want to please him. You don’t want to cross him. You don’t want to get out of fellowship with him. You don’t want his frown. You want his smile.

And you know that you’re going to have to answer to him.

If you have a good father, you’re going to have to give an account.

When you were a kid, did you ever have to do a painful debriefing with your parents about something you’d done? Kids, have you had to do that recently?

Peter reminds his readers that they too will have to give account to God the Father for all of their deeds. And so will we.

Now, notice, He’s still their Father. This is not whether or not they are going to be saved.

We are not saved based on our works. We are saved based on what we’re going to see in the very next verse. What we’ve been singing about all morning and what we’re going to celebrate at Lord’s Table together today.

We are saved by grace, but our works will be judged.

We will have to give an account for all of our choices in this life.

To our Father.

And He doesn’t play around. Verse 17 says we call, we pray to a Father who judges each of our works impartially. He doesn’t wink at sin. He doesn’t play favorites.

He doesn’t say, “Oh don’t worry about that. No biggie. Who cares? Whatever.”

This Father doesn’t just shrug. He wants us to be holy in all that we do.

He wants us to live as foreigners, differently, in reverent fear of Him.

So keep that in mind as you go about your life this week.

As you spend your money. Remember, you’re going to be audited.

Maybe not by the IRS, but by your heavenly Father.

You’re going to have to go over your accounts and talk about each purchase.

You’re going to have to explain to your Father what you were doing there.

Same thing with your entertainment choices.

Same thing with your relationships. Your friendships. Your enemy-ships. Your social media. Your sexuality. Your votes in the voting booth. Your ethical choices. Your medical choices. Your work. Your play. Your rest. Your care for creation. Your environmental choices.

You’re going to have to go over all of that with Him.

So think about that as you go through your week.

Live your life as a foreigner here in reverent fear.

Not to earn God’s love! You’ve got that. He’s your Father.

But because of God’s love. He’s your Father! You call on Him. Right?

You pray, right? That same God that you ask to work powerfully in your life is asking you to live as a stranger in this world and in reverent fear of Him.

Holy love casts out unholy fear, yes.

But we know that holy love also creates holy fear in us.

And we know something more.

We know that we have been forgiven and that we will be forgiven and have been freed and wil be freed by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 18.

“[Live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear.] For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

#2. BECAUSE OF YOUR PRECIOUS SAVIOR.

Live as a foreigners here in reverent fear because of your impartial Father and because your precious Savior.

Do you see the logic there in those verses?

We don’t live healthily fear-filled lives to earn God’s forgiveness or to be set free. It doesn’t work that way.

We live healthily fear-filled lives because we have been forgiven. Because we have been set free!

This holy fear comes from being wholly forgiven.

This holy fear comes from being wholly free.

I love how Peter highlights the precious blood of Christ by contrasting it with silver or gold. Look again at verse 18.

“For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold [We don’t think of silver and gold which are elements[!] as perishable things, but from God’s standpoint they are. Money passes away. It was not with perishable things such as silver or gold... ] that you were redeemed [bought back, freedom purchased] from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers [whether pagan forefathers with empty idols or Jewish forefathers with an empty devotion lawkeeping. Those are worthless. That’s how the rest of the world lives, and it’s futile. Those won’t save you!], but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”

 

There is nothing more precious than the blood of Jesus Christ. Like the sacrificial Lamb of the Old Testament sacrificial system. His blood is more than enough to pay for every sin that you have ever committed and ever will.

And this blood sets us free. It redeems us. We are not just foreigners. We are freed slaves. Freed from an empty way of life so that we can live life to the fullest in reverent fear.

If you have been saved, then you are now free to fear.

Free to fear the Father!

Free of the fear of sin and death and judgment.

Free of the fear of Satan and of Hell.

But you are also now free to walk in the fear of the Lord.

Because of the precious blood of the Lamb.

And this is Plan A, not Plan B or Plan Z.

It was not hastily assembled at the last second. V.20

“He [Christ] was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him [through Christ] you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.”

Because of your precious Savior.

Who was set to come before the world was created and then showed up at just at the right time. Notice that we are living in the last times! We have been ever since Jesus came the first time, and now we’re just waiting for His return.

Because of your precious Savior you believe in God who raised Jesus from the dead and glorified Him, so your faith and your hope are in God.

There he goes again about HOPE, right?

The certainty in the heart of something certain in the future.

It’s not here yet, but it is just as sure as if it was.

Because Jesus has come back from the dead!

And so we are forgiven and freed by what He did for us on the Cross.

Freed from an empty way of life to live a life full of holy trembling fear.

Freed from how our forefathers lived to now live as foreigners here in reverent fear.

So, yes, it is good to live in fear because of our impartial Father and because of our precious Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

May He get all of the glory.

***

Previous Messages in This Series

01. "Elect Exiles" 1 Peter 1:1-2
02. "A Living Hope" 1 Peter 1:3-7
03. "Angels Long To Look Into These Things" 1 Peter 1:8-12
04. "Be Holy In All You Do" 1 Peter 1:13-16

Read More