1 Peter 1:1,2 A Word to all
Pilgrims
Intro: Warren Wiersbe is one
of my Favorite Commentators
A)Down
to earth style / great application / witty / Practical
B) Wiersbe Series entitled
the BE SERIES His own Be attitudes
Given each book a theme : Be
1)
The
theme that He has chosen for 1 Peter is BE HOPEFUL
C) Several reasons why : We have been begotten again
to a Living Hope
Because we have a living savior
1)
Inheritance
to look forward to
D)
Trials we are currently going thru are shaping us into the people God desires
that we would be
1)
Gods
word endures forever
E)
Each Chapt. Of This book is filled encouragement concerning our Position &
standing in Christ that will give us Hope for all situations
1st THE WRITER : V.1
Identifies the writer of this epistle as being the apostle Peter
A)Peter
was self appointed spokesman You are the Christ / where would we go /Transfiguration
good to be here / Walked on water
B)
This is
Peter who boldly declared I will not deny you !!!!
C)
But This is the same Peter who denied Christ / Sought
out by Christ / who on the day of Pentecost Preached to 3,000 saved
D) Peter is a Great
illustration of How we cannot follow Christ in our
Own strength & efforts
1) But it is only by the empowering of
the H.S. that we are able to
FULFILL our calling as believers
So we are told that Peter is
the AUTHOR
writing under the inspiration Of the H.S. ( But Peters Authorship has been
called into question)
A)
In 1947 a man by the name of T.W. Baer proposed that Peter
was incapable of writing such a
letter being a simple fishermen
B)Now
Baer did some sophisticated research concerning the Greek Lang. &
Sentence Structure to back up his
findings & conclusion
1) That Peter was simply not smart
enough to write this quality of a
letter!!!!
C) So today in many
seminaries & institutes of higher learning the authorship of Peter is
called into question ( Wrongly so I might add)
1)See T.W. Baer was not the first to
question the Credentials of Peter
D)In the book of Acts Peter
& John are dragged in before the religious leaders - questioned told not to Preach ( Obey God not man
Conclusion :
Acts 4: 13Now when they saw
the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and
untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with
Jesus.
See The religious leaders realized that the reason these guys could speak w/ such authority & wisdom is because they had been w/ Jesus
A)
They had been hanging out w/ the Lord !!!!
B)
That will make a smart man / smart woman out of anyone spending
time in the presence of the Lord !!!
We ought to see the face of God every morning before we see the
face of man. -- D.L. Moody,
Listen if you give time to hanging around
Jesus You are going to
become a different Person ( Change in
You)
A)The
Change is going to be noticeable People will understand You
Have been w/ Jesus ( Devotions )
B) Perspective Changes radically His heart /
His mind / His eyes
more in tune w/ the Spirit
I
have found if I don't have my quiet time each morning, I tend to lose my temper
over insignificant things. Recently, my son, Andrew, reminded me of the need
for daily prayer. He had accidentally spilled his
drink and I went into a tirade. Andrew ended my harsh words when he
quietly asked, "Mom, did you forget to ask
Jesus to help you be nice today?"
Percentage
of American households with a Bible: 92
Guarding that time :
As I was having my daily devotions one morning, I heard my
3-year-old daughter, Kayla, answer the telephone in the next room. Trying not
to burst out laughing, I listened as she told the caller, "My mom is having
her emotions now. Can she call you back?"
The questioning of the authorship of Peter over looks the work of the H.S. in His life & in inspiration of the Scriptures
2
Tim .3: 16 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, 17that
the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
A)
God working
thru Human instruments / inspiring them to write His heart in a way that they
could never do on their own
1)
That
is the Beauty of the Bible God Breathed / speaking thru
human
vessels SO PETER WAS THE
VESSEL
WHEN: Peter
was writing in A.D. 64 in Anticipation of a heavy Persecution that was to come
upon the Church by CEASER NERO
A)
See Neros goal was to stamp his image upon the Roman empire in order to do that he
needed to reconstruct the city
B) But How would he
Justify such a Building Project ? PLAN:
1) This is what he did secretly
hired men to set the city on fire one NIGHT after much of it burned Blamed
the Christians
C) They were an easy target for several reasons
1) They talked about the fires of Judgment
2) They were considered Anti- Roman because they would declare
Caesar as Lord But Christ
D)
They were accused of being Cannibals because of
Communion eating
The body & drinking the Blood
1) Accused of destroying
families because as people were being saved
families
were being ripped apart
E)
The saved Husband or wife would not want to participate in the Pagan
Rituals & immoral practices
anymore!!
1) As a result there was friction in
the Home !!! ( Like today)
So there was already a Hatred toward the Christians in the Roman empire but w/ his Accusations Nero brought it to another level
A)
RESULT: 6 MILLION Christians were martyred under his reign
B)
Some were Dipped in wax Human torches / fed to
Lions / Made to face the Gladiators for Sport
C) Now
this type of persecution we really cannot relate to / but it still goes on today in other parts of the World
1)
Places like China / Sudan / - there are Countless 1,000s of our
Brothers
& sisters in the Lord who are suffering
Their request for Us ? Pray
please Pray for us !!!!
A)
The Bible says to whom much is given much is required and the truth of the
matter is we here in the states/ been given so much
B) I was reminded of this
again being in Russia where our bros & Sisters in the Lord have it pretty tough
1) Imagine having to travel for
several days to attend a Conf.
C)
Imagine No KWAVE no Christian music stations
1) No wonder they could sit thru 6
hrs of bible study a day &
3
hrs of Worship HUNGARY
People here complain about
Driving to far 20 min.
A)
We complain sermon was too long anywhere near a hr.
B)
We complain
music was too loud or the Worship wasnt the style
THAT
I like one problem after another
1) Complain I had to park across the
street Known some people
who couldnt get a parking spot in the main lot & Left
C)
In Sokol they travel 45 min. to an hr. by Public transportation & climb
Five flights
of stairs to get to Church
1) We are married to Convenience / Consumer
mentality about Church make it easy
simple / fun
D)
Now dont get me wrong I am glad that
our situation is better than in Russia not
suggesting at all wish we had it as rough
1) Thank God for KWAVE
E) But we need to toughen up a little / some a lot
realize what is the reason That we have been so blessed ?
1)
We
get to help them - ( Building ) Our own
yes /
So
this book was written during a time when the Church was enduring Persecution
& the heat was about to be turned up
WHO: TO THE PILGRIMS OF THE DISPERSION
A)
KJV To the Strangers scattered throughout the
countries
B)
NCV To Gods chosen people who are away from their
homes and are
scattered all around the
countries
C)
Now Primarily it is speaking of these Christians who were living in foreign lands as a result of the persecution
1) But there is an application here to
all believers at all times
How
So:
Wherever the exiled Jew settled, his eyes were towards Jerusalem.
A) In foreign
countries his synagogues were built so that, when the worshipper entered, he
was facing towards Jerusalem.
B) However
useful a citizen of his adopted country the Jew was, his greatest
loyalty was to Jerusalem.
C)
Same is true of us - We are the exiles of eternity.
Cit. of Heaven/ This is never to say that we must withdraw from the world, ( Make our mark)
1)but that in the realest sense we must
be at the same time both in the world and not of it.
D) It has been wisely said that the Christian must be APART from
the world but never ALOOF from it.
E)
The Greek word for such a sojourner in a strange land is paroikos
1)
It
speaks of a
man who was in a strange land and whose thoughts
ever turned home.
"The world is a bridge. The wise man will pass over it, but
he will not build his house upon it."
So
Peter referred to them as Strangers: = Resident Aliens People living in one
place as a Stranger
A)The
Place where they were residing was foreign to them
B)
Whenever I
travel abroad- never comfortable always this longing for home ( Drinks no Ice
)
1)
Showers
have to Kneel
2)
Taxi
Flag down any car -
C)
After a While Longing in my heart for America
1)
That
should be our perspective here ( Never quite comfortable
Always in our hearts a longing for heaven !!!!
We are Strangers & We
are a strange People :
1
John 3: 1Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we
should be called children of £God! Therefore the world
does not know £us,
A)Because
Christians are strangers in the world, they are considered to be strange in the eyes of the world
1)Christians have standards and values
different from those of the world,
1) Diet Coke Lady so mean
C)
But we are not Strange because we are doing strange things
1)
But
we are strange because the world is so abnormal they look at us weird
different
D)
Why? because it did not know Him. ACTOR
& PASTOR
Listen the world will look at you & I and scratch their heads when they see the impact that Being w/ Jesus / Knowing Jesus has on us
A)See
Real love in Action Jesus said they will know that you are my disciples by
Your love
B)
Greg O. I love you Bro -
So Peter is writing to this group of
people who have been forced to abandon their native homeland & reside in
other countries
BECAUSE OF THE PERSECUTION
that they were facing
A)So
Peter sets out to encourage them in the Lord the first thing He reminds
them of is Whos they are !!!!!
Spiritual truth
D)In Short- Be encouraged because
no matter how bad it might get You belong to the Lord He wont leave you or
forsake you !!!!