1 Peter - 2022

And if you'd like to take up a bible and turn with me to 1, Peter, and chapter 1. Now, Thomas preaching from verses 10 to 21, but I'm going to read from verse 3, so I don't think those first few verses will be up on the screen. So that's why you might wanna get up on your bible. I've gone rogue.

So 1, Peter, chapter 1, and verse 3. Praise be to the god and father of our lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy, he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this, you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy for you receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they spoke of the things that you have now been told that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit, sent from heaven.

Even angels long to look into these things. Therefore, With minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. For it is written, be holy, Because I am holy.

Since you call on a father who judges each person's work impartially, Live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you redeem from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ a lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him, you believe in God who raised him from the dead and glorified him. And so your faith and hope are in guards.

Thank you. Thank you, Rory. Welcome to those who are joining us online at home and Good morning to you all here. If you don't know, my name's Tom. I'm 1 of the ministers here, and it's great to great to have you, whether you're visiting, whether you're a member.

It's lovely to have you with this morning, as we look at this amazing section in in 1 Peter. It was a great week, wasn't it last week, for those who did the media fast just to echo and underline what Rory at the beginning of the service. I hope you really enjoyed it. Those who were both fasting from media and feasting on the Word of God, on the book of Romans, Here's just 1 snapshot from our staff WhatsApp chat. This was first, oh, it's gone right to the right to the end.

That's strange. Oh, there we go. This was what Dean put on a on Monday night after he'd read Romans 3 with his group. Great night tonight, what a gospel and that's Ben's way of affirming and agreeing with what Dean said there a hundred percent. And, you know, I hope you felt something of that.

As we looked at this amazing gospel in the book of Romans over the course of a week, we unpacked it together, and some bits were harder to get through. Some bits not so much, but it was wonderful, wasn't it? Just to unfold, to explore the gospel, which is the power of God for the salvation of all, who will believe. And this morning, as you will see in our reading, we are returning to that great subject. That is our subject, again, this morning, the salvation.

Of God. So let's pray together and ask for his help. We thank you father that you are a God who speaks to us. We thank you that your heavens that you've made and this earth, which you've designed to proclaim the glory of your name, We thank you for your words, which reveals truth to us about your world and what we're like, and we thank you that it points most supremely, to your son, the lord Jesus Christ, to his sufferings on the cross for us, and to his resurrection glories that would follow and we pray holy spirit that you would help us as we open up these words, that you would apply them to our hearts, challenge us, show us sin in our life that we might be enabled to repent and draw close again to our savior. And we just pray that you'd help us to see this morning how precious we are to you that your own son shed his precious blood to redeem us from our old vein ways of life.

Help us to rejoice in this gospel together in Jesus' name. Oh, man. Oh, man. Well, we took a break from our series in 1 Peter last week. But up until then, we have been seeing in this letter, in this great chapter chapter 1 how Peter has been connecting the gospel to our lives.

You remember, he is writing to these ex pagans Many of them were slaves. They were marginalized. They didn't hold great positions in society, and they have been scattered across the Roman Empire, and were feeling themselves to be exiles. And he has been showing them that actually, it doesn't matter what the world thinks that they are, it doesn't matter whether they hold these important positions. According to the gospel, they have been born again into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

They are saved now in Jesus and may have a wonderful hope to look forward to. And then in verse 10, he says, concerning this salvation. And that tells us that he's not done yet, with this salvation theme. He's not ready to change subject, he's still bridging the gap He's still crossing the divide. He's showing these scattered exiles how they belong in the sweeping story of God's grace.

He's still connecting them and their lives to this great story which God is telling. And there's at least 3 ways that he does that in our passage this morning, connecting this great salvation to our lives. And the first 1 is this. An ancient story which has been preached to you. He tells them that they belong to an ancient story which has been preached to you.

You see verse 10 concerning this salvation, not changing subject, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched intently and with the greatest care. Now often people wonder, and you may have asked this question this week, about those who lived before Christ. You know, how was it possible for them to be saved when they didn't know him and they hadn't seen him. They lived hundreds thousands of years before him, and yet if he is the only way we can be safe, well, how does that work? And behind that good question is the idea that history has gone a little bit like this.

You know, God created the world, creation, There was history, history, history, history, and then Christ came something altogether different, no 1 saw it coming, some brand new way of doing things, and only now if we look to Christ, will we be saved? But the reality is that Christ is not just in the second half. He has always been at the heart of the story. That's what Peter is showing us. When he talks about the prophets, he really means the voice of the Old Testament that was anticipating the coming of Christ, and looking forward to the coming of Christ.

And that's what we find as we read the Old Testament, We see faithful men and women who were looking down at the promises of God, searching them carefully, and then raising their eyes to the horizon. Scanning the horizon, living on their tiptoes, wondering when the fulfillment of these hopes and these promises would be coming in the person of Christ that they could see in the old testament. And when you look at the old testament that way, it just fits, doesn't it? They had this promise, a descendant of Abraham, who would be a blessing to the world. When's he going to come?

They had this promise about a king in 2 Samuel 7, who would sit on David throne and would rule and reign forever. What's he gonna be like? And yet, they also knew that this 1 in David's line psalm 110, would be David's Lord. How's that going to work? Sitting in the throne, also David's Lord.

They had this promise in Daniel 7 that there would be a son of man who had all authority on heaven and in earth. And yet, how is he going to use his authority, Isaiah 53? He's gonna lay his life down. He's gonna suffer for his people. And will that be the end of the story?

No, Psalm 16, because God won't let his holy 1 see decay. He's gonna raise him from the dead. Death won't have the final say over him. They had these promises, and they searched them, and they spoke about them, and wrote them down, and they searched a bit harder, and they looked carefully, looking for Christ. And as time went on, things got clearer and clearer.

You might think about a mirror that's, you know, covered in condensation, you know, after you've had bath or a shower and you look in the mirror, it's covered in condensation. And to start with, you can only see a little bit of a shape. There's something there You know there's something more, there's a blur, but it lacks detail, it lacks clarity. And yet as time goes on and things start to clear, slowly, slowly, the details become sharper and sharper until everything comes into focus. 1 writer says, that the spirit that was fire in the bones of the prophets was the spirit of Christ Driving forward to the salvation he must bring.

The lion has roared, who will not fear. The sovereign lord has spoken, who can but prophesy. The lion of the tribe of Judah, who opens the seals of the book of God's decrees. Is the lion who thunders in the voice of the prophets. That's how they knew, and that's how they saw.

Not because they were good at reading the star signs. They read their horoscopes, they were full of good guesses. Peter tells us it was the spirit of Christ in them, thundering in their bones, pointing to the Messiah and the sufferings to come. It's very easy to go wrong in all kinds of areas when you divide the Holy Spirit from Jesus. They are different persons.

They have different roles in his in salvation history, but the spirit is about the work of the sun. There are many different names for the spirit in the bible and in the old testament, but Peter here calls him the spirit of Christ because he wants to remind us that in the old testament, the spirit was doing what he's always done, and which he still does today, driving people to the salvation that comes by faith in Christ Jesus. That's always been his job, and that's how the prophets could see. So he gives them there just in a couple of verses, a short but rich and profound description of the old testament. Right?

Wherever you are in the old testament, remember those 2 verses. That's what's going on in some way. The spirit of Christ in them driving us on to Christ, and he's coming. And then just look what he does in verse 12, and how he connects this ancient story to their marginalized little lives. It was revealed to them, so even profits knew something of this, that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they spoke of the things that have now been told you.

You think of who they were again, these original readers, On the edge of society, suffering, being maligned because they don't follow the ways of their culture. You know, I would imagine that they hardly felt part of anything in their lives. But God is saying to them no matter how small and unspiritual your lives might feel, the fulness of this story has come on you, and you belong You read your old testament and you know that they were serving you when they spoke of Christ and he's coming, he's come upon you. Jesus says, truly I tell you. Many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see, but did not see it.

And to hear what you hear but did not hear it. I wonder if you realize that if you're a Christian this morning that if Isaiah was if Isaiah was given the choice, he would swap places with you in a heartbeat I saw Jesus' glory in the promises of God, he would say. But you have the fulness of the story. Everything I looked for and hoped in has come upon you Christians, you see how privileged you are. We should rejoice in our privileges.

I love the message version of verse 12. I used it the other day, actually, not a translation, but it is a a a a a version. And it says here in verse 12, do you realize how fortunate you are? Angels would have given anything to be in on this. Here are the angels this morning amongst us, trying to tune in.

Listening to what we're saying, Wondering as we take the Lord's supper together later. What exactly is going on? What it must be like? To be redeemed by the Christ of the Scriptures. They know something of it, the knowledge that the theory of it perhaps but not the experience.

They don't know what it's like to be born again into this story, to be redeemed by the blood of the lamb, Christians, he says, we know that. The prophets are saying to you and the angels are saying to you, we longed to see what you see. But did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it. And so he says rejoice in these privileges. But also, we should follow the example of the prophets.

Because you notice that all of these prophets died without seeing everything. They did not see the fullness of what they were looking forward to, and yet from God's promises about Christ, they drew strength for their lives. And there's a lesson for us there. Because at this point in history, we do know the details of the gospel, we know the who, we know the when, we know the how, we know the details But Peter also says in this chapter, we have not seen him yet, and we do not see him now. There is something still to be complete, something left yet to be revealed.

And therefore we've got to do what the prophets did, which is to look down at our Bibles, treasure the promises, search the pages with the greatest care and then look up to the coming of the Lord, scanning the horizon on our Tiptoes. When's he coming? When's he coming? The only way that we can rejoice in our trials is if we realize that this is the exile life and we're not home yet. If we think it's best life now, then we're gonna be crushed and incredibly disappointed in the end.

But if we're on our tiptoes scanning the horizon for Jesus, doing what the prophets did, waiting for the salvation that is ready to be revealed. Looking to the coming of the Lord? Well, then we can keep going with him. Look how he applies it in verse 13. With minds that are alert and fully sober do what they did.

Set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. That's what they did, and that's what we do. So firstly, there is an ancient story, which has been preached to you. We should rejoice in our privileges, and we should look to our examples. Secondly, He says that there is a holy life to which you have been called.

There's an ancient story which has been preached to you. There's a holy life to which you have been called. And now as we've seen at the center of this story in this whole chapter, is the grace of God in Jesus Christ. So you see in verse 2, if you just look back, It says, grace and peace be yours in abundance. Verse 3, he says, in his great mercy, he has given us new birth.

Verse 10, the prophet spoke of the grace that was to come to you. Verse 13, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you. This chapter is all about the graciousness of God to us in Christ. And the question is, What difference should that grace make to our lives? Does it make any real difference?

Well, verse 14, he says it changes everything. As obedient children do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do, for it is written quoting leviticus, be holy because I am holy. And when you remember their situation, this becomes really, really important because it's often in the difficult hard times of life. When we're most tempted to compromise on the holiness of God.

In chapter 5, he says to them, your enemy, the devil, prails around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. She satan doesn't look at us when we're having a hard time in our tough situations and worry that it might be getting on top of us. And think about giving us a break and going on holiday when things are tough. He can't take your righteousness before God. But he can go for the joy of Christian living and the effectiveness of our witness.

And that's why Peter connects these things. Because he knows that when tough times come, the message is not relax, but man the defenses. 14 again do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. Same stuff in Romans 12, if you remember that last week.

You know, I appeal to you therefore in light of God's mercies in view of who you are, In view of the grace that is yours, don't go back to that old way. Don't conform again to that old way, but offer your lives are fresh. As a sacrifice to the Lord. And then he comes from another angle. Have a look at verse 17.

Since you call on a father who judges each person's working partially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. And you notice how he starts with grace again. Who is this judge that we've got to deal with? He is your heavenly father. Your father is this judge, but he's saying to them, if we think that means that God can be manipulated, that he's into special privileges, 1 rule for you, Another rule for me, 1 rule for them out there, another rule for us in here, then we need to think again.

He is an impartial judge. The Christian standard bible puts it this way. If you appeal to the father who judges impartially according to each one's work, you are to conduct yourselves in reverence during your time living as strangers. In other words, he's saying, if that's who you're calling on, If you want to appeal to him, if you want the God of justice to deal with things, then you better remember who you're calling on. See, it's like the slave example that he'll go on to use in chapter 2.

Where he says to them, if you're in a situation that you're living under cruel boss, nasty, harsh boss. How do you survive that situation? Well, 1 way is to look forward We have a father in heaven. He knows what is happening. He's going to bring everything to justice.

You can keep going. But of course, that cuts both ways. Right? The fact that God will judge the nasty boss doesn't mean that in the meantime, I can make his or her life a total nightmare, that I can decide, you know, well, because I'm a Christian and I'm 1 of God's children, doesn't really care what I do. You know, I know he's gonna deal with the boss.

It doesn't matter what I do. I can do whatever I like. In fact, I'm doing God a favor by being nasty. I'm sort of bringing the judgment forward for him. You know?

No. No. He says he is your father, but he is impartial. And he judges according to each one's work. He's not into the special privileges.

Mates rates. 1 rule for them, 1 rule for us, which which we see in the news, and most of us hate it, don't we? It provokes a passionate response in us that when we see the 1 rule for you, 1 rule for us kind of culture. He's saying, no, he is your father, He is impartial, he is holy, and therefore you are to conduct yourselves in reverence. We are not expected to be like God in every way.

We can't can't become all powerful and all knowing like he is. But when God, the Father, saves us, he saves us 2 and 4 a life that pleases him. And he says, be holy in all that you do. And so the question is, in what areas would you like to grow in the family likeness? Where do you go to for help when things are tough in your life?

See, it's easy, isn't it when we've had a tough day. Things are rubbish at work. It's suffering of suffering of some kind to look at something from the old life. And she think, do you know that? That I think would help.

That would help me escape the pressure a little bit. Just a little something to relieve the tension, something to dull the senses, something to cope with the boredom. Peter absolutely gets that. But he doesn't say right, you're having a tough time. Don't worry about it.

Because it's precisely in that time that we need it underlined. When things are hard for us in life, sin doesn't go on holiday. It's crouching at your door looking for an opportunity to destroy. And so we need both of these applications. You have been saved by grace, but the grace that saves you is a transforming grace.

Be holy as I am holy. And in that way, you're gonna shine in the world. That's what it'll go on to say. So there is an ancient story which has been preached to you. There is a holy life to which you have been called.

And thirdly, and lastly, there is a perfect sacrifice by which you are redeemed. Now sometimes when we think about holiness as we have just done in the last point, we can react to it Because somewhere along the line, we've come to the conclusion that if we've been saved by God's grace, our lives no longer matter to him. Remember that kind of objection in Romans that Paul writes about and he anticipates? You know, well, if our sin brings out God's righteousness, Well, then all for it. Let's sin more, bring on the righteousness of God.

Should we sin so that grace would abound, that we want to see more of God's grace? Why don't we carry on and sit? And underneath all of those questions, is that misunderstanding that in some way or another, If God has saved us by grace, he's no longer interested in how we live. He sort of lost interest in that. But that is how twisted we can get things, because the logic here is the exact opposite.

The very reason that your life matters to him is precisely because you've been saved by his grace. Just look at the gospel connection for, you know, in verse 17. It's right here. Since you call on a father who judges each person's work in partial, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 4.

In other words, why do I do that? How do I do that? How can I do that? 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 ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ.

A lamb without blemish or defect. He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. In the first point, I asked, do you realize how privileged you are Now I think the question is, do you see how precious you are? That before the world began, Jesus Christ was foreknown and appointed as the Savior of the world. And when the time was right, he came into this world not for his own sake, but for yours.

Revealed in these last times. Not for his own sake, but for yours. Isn't that remarkable? The prophets had spoken about this grace that was coming into the world. They had searched and searched for the details.

And here they are. Jesus Christ, the lamb without blemishal defect perfect in all of his ways righteous before his father gave his life for hours. And Peter is saying to them, look, you You know that. It's interesting how he says that, isn't it? You know you know your story.

He's trying to get them to think back. And to ask the question, Christian, what made the difference in your life? How did you get changed? How did you turn around? What was it that brought you into this living hope?

Was it, and we're going to sing this later, a list of sins you have not done? Was it a list of virtues that you were pursuing? Was it a list of people that you're not like? Was it a humble dress, fervent prayer, lifted hands, tearful song, recitation of the truth, separation from the world, work I do, gifts I give, silver or gold. Was it that that brought you, silver or gold?

Was it any of those things in that list that made the difference in your life? No, he says. Think about your testimony. You didn't buy yourself out of sin, but with the precious blood Christ, he says, given on the cross, a lamb without blemish or defect. And here Peter is only preaching what he heard Christ say to him, for even the son of man, did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.

That's what he did. That's what that redemption word is all about. He gave his life to satisfy God's wrath against our sin. To redeem us from death and an eternity in hell and to make us right before the living God. That was the ransom.

That was the redemption. That was the blood price that was given to make the difference in your life. See, after 0.2, we might be saying, okay. Holy life to which I have been called, holy in every area. Gotta watch it when life is tough.

I get that. But how is it possible? Because there is a perfect sacrifice by which you have been redeemed. The holy life to which you have been called is only possible because of the perfect sacrifice by which you have been redeemed. Here's how it goes together.

Unless God had made us his. We could not gain his holiness or even want it. But God has claimed us as his own, at a cost that seers our minds. With the flame of his love. Unless God had made us his, we could not gain his holiness or even want it.

We wouldn't want it. Let alone have it. But God has claimed us as his own at a cost. The precious blood of Christ. That seers our minds with the flame of his love.

That is what powers the holy life in a difficult world. Do you see how privileged you are Then be holy as he is holy. Do you see how precious you are? Then be holy as he is holy. Over and over again, he is connecting the story of God's grace in Jesus Christ to our lives.

We may feel marginalized and weird for some of the views we hold, tempted disappointed with how our lives have turned out, but he says, no no. There is an ancient story, which has been preached to you. There is a holy life to which you have been called, and there is a perfect sacrifice by which you are redeemed. This is your identity as a child of God. This is how you fit in to the sweeping story of God's grace.

It has come upon you. It was revealed to them they were serving you. Christ was made known in these times for your sake. And he has brought you into this new life of holy joy as we wait for him. And look, it might be here.

It might be that you're here and you're you wouldn't call yourself a Christian, you still thinking about these things and investigating, wondering about them. I just want to say, you know, from this passage, this story is not something that you just observed from a distance. It's not something you just have to watch like going to the cinema or the theater. You are a hundred percent invited to enter into this story. The Lord Jesus Christ has come for you And through him, you can enter this ancient story, this holy life, this perfect redemption, and belong to that greatest story ever told.

We thank you heavenly father for this ancient story which the Old Testament pointed to and foreshadowed the story of the Lord Jesus Christ, his sufferings and his glory, and we thank you that this is the story which has been preached to us that the way it carries on in this world is through the preaching of the Apostle's Gospel about Christ, and we thank you that we can belong to this story. We thank you lord for the price that was paid for us. By your precious son, that even though he was that lamb without a single blemish without any defect so unlike us in that way, that he died a sinner's death on the cross, that he shed his blood for us so that we might be declared righteous before you, come into the hope of resurrection, with the hope of seeing you 1 day. Thank you that that was what made the difference in our lives. Not our good works not our efforts.

That was no not powerful to change us. It was the blood of Christ, and we thank you for it. And we thank you lord for this holy life to which you've called us, that you call us to be like you, holy, in every area of our lives. And we pray that you'd help us to press into that as we live in light of the cross. And we ask that in Jesus' name, amen.