[0:00] Now, turning back to the chapter that we read, the first epistle of Peter in chapter 1, and this evening we'll look at the verses that we have from verse 17 to verse 21 of the chapter.
[0:19] Verse 17 to verse 21. And if you call on him as father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.
[0:49] He was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was made manifest in the last times for you's sake. And through him are believers in God to raise them from the dead and give them glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
[1:07] That your faith and hope are in God. And we can first look, in looking at these verses, we can first look at godly fear.
[1:21] And secondly, we can look at a precious price. And thirdly, we can look at a great privilege.
[1:34] A great privilege. And firstly, coming to godly fear. And in looking at these verses, what Peter is trying to get at with these verses, we find it in these words at the end of verse 17.
[1:53] And of course, in this chapter, Peter brings before us the inheritance and the salvation that we are looking forward to.
[2:15] We have already received salvation, but it has not yet been perfected. So we are looking towards this inheritance, this salvation.
[2:26] And he brings that before us in verses 1 to 12. Then in verse 13, he wants us to set our hearts and minds, to focus our hearts and minds on the hope that we now have in Christ.
[2:41] And then in verse 15, he desires of each believer to strive after holiness of life.
[2:53] And now in verse 17, he is telling us that we should live our lives ruled by this godly fear.
[3:05] Now the fear he is on about, and of course in verses 18 to 21, he reveals to us why we are to live our lives ruled with this godly fear.
[3:19] Now the fear he is on about here is not a slavish fear. It's not a slavish fear. A godly fear means giving reverence to God.
[3:31] It means giving reverence to God. And what Peter has in mind here is that every one of us desires to please, though every believer, those who have been brought to a new life, brought to enjoy this new life in Christ.
[3:51] We all desire to please God. And we all desire to glorify God. That our lives would glorify God.
[4:02] But very often there is this fear, and it is a godly fear ruling within our hearts, that we are all coming short, that we are failing to please him, failing to glorify him.
[4:14] And this is the fear that Peter is on about. That is just one measure of the fear that Peter is on about here. Now there is such a thing.
[4:25] There is a fear that does no impact upon our confidence or our assurance. Take, for instance, a person who drives a car.
[4:42] And he has full confidence in his own or her own driving. No, I'm not a very experienced car driver. I haven't passed my test yet, but you know what I'm on about.
[4:56] This person, he has full confidence in their own driving ability. Why do they have that confidence?
[5:08] Because they are moved by this fear. That one day there will be the means of bringing an accident about that will injure one of their fellow beings or will be a means of bringing to an end the life of one of their fellow beings.
[5:29] And that is what one calls a healthy fear. A healthy fear. And this is what Peter is on about here.
[5:40] That if we live our lives ruled by this godly fear, then it will prevent us from living couldn't-care-less lives.
[5:52] From living lives that couldn't-care-less, living a careless lifestyle. If we live this life ruled with this godly fear.
[6:08] It will protect us from living. And this fear as well is a scriptural fear. It's scriptural.
[6:20] Because if we go to Deuteronomy chapter 8 and verse 6, we will find these words. Keeping his commandments. Walking in his ways.
[6:32] Fearing him. And if we go to Proverbs chapter 9 and verse 10, we find these words. That the godly fear is the beginning of wisdom. Godly fear is the beginning of wisdom.
[6:44] So it's a fear that edifies. A fear that enables us to live circumspectly before our god and before our fellow beings.
[6:58] Before our fellow beings. It's a fear that edifies. And Peter is telling us here that we should live with this fear ruled in our lives throughout the days of our exile.
[7:14] You see, we are on a journey. We haven't yet reached our destination. When one could say that we are exiled. While we are in this world, we are exiled from the land, from the land that has been promised to us.
[7:32] And therefore, throughout the days of our exile, or throughout the days of our sojourn in here, we are to live with this fear ruling our lives.
[7:44] Ruling our lives. Now, what separates the believer from the rest who live within the world is this inheritance that we are looking towards.
[7:59] And the fact that there's been this new birth in our experience. It's the heavenly city that we are churning towards that differentiates between ourselves and those who are still swallowed up in unbelief.
[8:17] And while we are here, we are to live our lives with this godly fear ruling our hearts.
[8:31] Being afraid that we will bring shame or dishonor to the name of the one who delivered us from such a great death.
[8:49] Being afraid that we will bring any shame or dishonor to the Lord's cause while we are still to be found within the world. Being afraid that we will live lives that despise the gospel of Jesus Christ.
[9:11] And seeking to live lives that will adorn the gospel. And that will beautify the gospel.
[9:24] That has delivered us from such a great death. You see, this is not the fear of a slave.
[9:36] This is not the fear at all of a slave before his master. But it is the reverential love of a child. The reverential love that a child shows to his or her father.
[9:52] To his or her father. And therefore we live our lives here afraid that we will let down the one who has called us out of darkness into his own marvelous light.
[10:09] And we can sum up godly fear with these words. The two is a soul showing a sober reverence. Giving a sober reverence to her father which art in heaven.
[10:23] To her father which art in heaven. Knowing that we are always in his presence. Which brings us to the second point that we have here and that is a precious price.
[10:33] And Peter. Peter brings before us in verse 18. Brings home to us in verse 18. The highest reason.
[10:48] Why. We ought. To strive. After a holy life. And live. Our lives. Our lives. With this godly fear.
[11:00] And that reason is. That we have not been redeemed. With perishable things like silver and gold. But that the most precious price possible.
[11:15] Was paid. For our redemption. And that is of course. The precious blood. Of Jesus Christ. The blood.
[11:26] Of the son of God. And Peter. Peter. Wants. Wants. Wants. Those to whom he is writing. And he wants us. To. Keep in mind.
[11:37] And not to forget. And not to forget. The price. That was paid. For our redemption. And that is what the Lord's Supper is all about. In his wisdom.
[11:50] Christ. Instituted. This supper. On the night. Before he was betrayed. So that. This would be kept fresh. Before our minds.
[12:01] The price. That was paid. For our redemption. The price that was paid. For my redemption. And.
[12:13] Your redemption. He doesn't want us. To forget.
[12:24] And then Peter reminds. As ridders. Of what they were. Before they were redeemed.
[12:37] They were slaves. They were slaves. In need. Of being. Set. Free. Now these words.
[12:50] That we have here. The word ransom. That we have here. And the word. Redemption. They were words. That were familiar. In. The world. In which Peter moved.
[13:03] Because there was. Thousands. Upon thousands. Of slaves. To be found. Within the Roman Empire. In fact. Some of you. Might have more. Accurate figures.
[13:13] Than I have. It could be up to. Million. Could have been up to. Millions. But. We can be sure. That there were. Thousands. Upon thousands. Of slaves. To be found. Within. The Roman Empire. In Peter's day.
[13:26] Some of these. Slaves. Could buy. Their own freedom. If they had. The money. To do so. And.
[13:37] What Peter. Is reminding. His readers. Of. Is that. We were all. Slaves. To sin. We were all. In. Bondage. And Moses.
[13:50] Moses. Was impressing. This. Upon the children. Of Israel. Never. To forget. Their days. Of bondage.
[14:01] In the land. Of Egypt. But when we come. To. The epistle. When we go. Go to the epistle. Of the Hebrews. To the Hebrews. We find. There. That three thousand.
[14:11] Of them. Fell in the wilderness. Why? Because. They forgot. What their days. Of bondage.
[14:22] In the land. Of Egypt. Was like. Egypt. And that. Is why. They were wanting. Back to Egypt. They fully believed.
[14:33] That they were better off. In Egypt. Than they were under the care of God. And under the care of Moses. And Aaron. While they were in the wilderness. They had been far better off.
[14:43] They had forgotten. What it was like. to be what it was like in the days of bondage in Egypt. And then Peter comes to this, that the lives that we were living before we were redeemed were futile.
[15:05] They were lives that were futile and empty. And that futility was as a result of the fact that we were living without any reference whatsoever to the true and the living God.
[15:30] But we were living lives that were offering worship to dead gods. And Peter says here, it was a lifestyle that was handed down to you from your forefathers.
[15:45] And of course we know that Peter has in mind there the idolatry, the idolatrous lifestyle that was handed down to the Gentiles by the generations before them.
[15:57] But what I'd like to point out is this. Here we are and we were also brought up under the gospel. how many of us followed the example that was set before us by the Christians that were around us in the villages and in this town.
[16:24] How many of us really followed the example that was set before us by the Christians that we knew? Very few of us. But we followed the example that was set before us by those who weren't Christians at all.
[16:39] And that's the example that we followed. And that was a lifestyle that was handed an empty, futile lifestyle that was handed down to us by our forefathers.
[16:51] Just as Peter is talking on about here. Just the same as that idolatrous lifestyle was handed down to the Gentiles. So this empty, futile lifestyle was handed down to us by our forefathers.
[17:02] This was the lifestyle that we followed. Or most of us followed any. And it was futile.
[17:13] It was empty. Because we were worshipping many gods and many lords before we were finally through the grace of God brought to our senses.
[17:34] And Peter here is bringing home to us what Christ has done on our behalf. And he's saying to us yes yes perishable things like silver and gold.
[17:52] might buy the freedom of those who are in slavery. But a far greater and more precious price than that is needed to redeem the sinner from his or her life of bondage.
[18:16] and that price he says is the precious blood of the son of God Jesus Christ and nothing else nothing else would have done.
[18:36] And as we know sacrifice is something that the Old Testament saints were familiar with.
[18:50] First sacrifice that is brought before us in Scripture is the sacrifice that was offered up when Adam and Eve were clothed with skins.
[19:03] and if we go if we go to Genesis chapter 22 and verse 13 we will find that a lamb was offered up in the place of Isaac.
[19:16] The Passover lamb and the blood of the Passover lamb was what delivered the children of Israel from the angel of death.
[19:27] and if we go to Genesis chapter 22 and verse 13 verse 7 sorry we will find Isaac putting the question I see the wood and the fire but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?
[19:47] And that question did not find a true answer until John the Baptist pointed that Jesus Christ in the New Testament age behold the lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.
[20:10] That's when Isaac's question found a true answer. And if we go to Revelations chapter 5 we find there that the angels and the redeemed saints are united in the praises of this lamb worthy is the lamb of all power of all glory of all honor and the saints could follow up and say because he has redeemed us with his own blood because he has redeemed us with his own blood which takes us to the final point that we have here and that is a great privilege and as Peter is bringing before us here about this sacrifice it was without spot or without blemish it was a fitting sacrifice to redeem sinners it was a fitting sacrifice to redeem sinners and Peter
[21:13] Peter makes the comparison he's making the comparison here between the perishable things like silver and gold and the life of Jesus Christ that is eternal and there is no comparison there is no comparison we were not redeemed the believers the people of God were not redeemed with things perishable like silver and gold but they were redeemed with the blood of a Persian the blood of a Persian and that blood was none other than the blood of the Son of God and the blood of the Son of God a two-gold place and Peter is reminding us here that this was foreordained by God before he created the world all of this was brought about the life of Christ was offered up on our behalf and Peter says this was in the heart of God before he brought the worlds into being and then he comes to this
[23:05] Peter comes to this was made manifest in the last times for your sake for your sake and what that means is that we are now living in the age where the eternal purposes of God are being fulfilled fulfilled and that's what we mean by a great privilege we have been given a great privilege we are now living in the days where the promises of
[24:08] God concerning salvation are being fulfilled before our very eyes through everybody that is coming to publicly confess what Jesus Christ has done for them what Jesus Christ has done for them and this of course had its beginnings in the coming of Christ into the world and what was unclear to the Old Testament saints is now made clear to us it's now made clear to us so that all this that was foreordained by God before the world was created every Old
[25:22] Testament prophecy every Old Testament prophecy and every provision every preparation that God was making and everything that he was bringing before the Old Testament saints in types and in symbols we're all looking forward to our day to our day and he brings that before us very clearly in this chapter itself concerning this salvation the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be used searched and inquired carefully inquiring what person or time the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of
[26:22] Christ and the subsequent glories it was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you they were serving not themselves but you so that all that was happening in the Old Testament days was looking forwards to this age in which I and you live and therefore as Peter is pointing out to us here should we therefore not live our lives with our hearts being ruled with this godly fear in the light of the great privilege that God has bestowed upon us and should we not fear misusing that great privilege that he has given to us should we not fear misusing that privilege that he has given to us and I'm talking to every one of us in here tonight there are some of us who are the people of God who confess to be the people of
[27:48] God others who have not yet confessed that salvation and this word is to you as much as it is to the people of God do not misuse the privilege that God has bestowed upon us in these days when everything that was happening in the Old Testament dispensation was simply a preparation for the day and age in which we live these last days in which we live and we've been living in the last days since Christ and so Peter is bringing before us here that as believers in these last days we believe in God because of what he has done on our behalf in Christ in Christ what he has done on our behalf in Christ and the resurrection of Jesus Christ is the very foundation of all of our hopes and we place our faith in the exalted and glorified
[28:57] Savior and God has done all this so that our faith and our hope would be in God himself in the triune God Father Son and Holy Spirit and there was a young girl who became a famous home writer and her name was Frances Whitley Hammergall and I don't know whether it was in a museum or in a portrait gallery whether it was in one of those it was in either one or the other that she was in and she saw this portrait of the crucified Christ and written underneath the portrait were these words I have done this for thee what have you done for me and it inspired her to write a poem and she went home and she scribbled the poem on a piece of paper but after she was finished she was dissatisfied with what she had written and so she threw it into the fire the amazing thing that happened was the fire burned down but the paper was still intact and she was amazed and she went to tell her father and she showed him the paper telling him what happened and her father told her well my dear girl he said
[30:51] I think God intends you to publish that poem and she got it published and it's been sung and it's sung in many of our churches today even to this day and the words that she wrote are these I gave my life for thee my precious blood was shed that thou might ransom be and quickened from the dead I gave I gave my life for thee what hast thou given unto me and if you are here this evening and if you have found Christ and you are still without publicly professing what Christ has done in your life well remember these words over the days that are ahead of you
[32:10] I gave I gave my life for thee what hast thou given unto me let us pray oh gracious and ever blessed Lord help us to wonder at the greatness of the provision that you have made for sinners such as we are and that we would bless you and praise you Lord for remembering us in the low state into which we fell and Lord that thy mercy would be revealed to us anew and that you would give your people fresh tokens of assurance over these days that are before them so that they would be strengthened in the act that they will be partaking in and that they would rejoice in lifting the cup of blessing that you have left to them and that they would praise you for the symbol of the bread that reminds them of your own willingness for your body to be broken on their behalf
[33:32] O Lord bless your word mightily in these days and Lord help us to wait upon you expectantly knowing that your arm is not shortened to the extent that you cannot save your power is not diminished it is the same as it ever was and help us therefore to rejoice in having such a great gospel and knowing that that gospel is the power of God and to salvation and Lord that it would be so manifested in the days that are ahead of this congregation and of all our congregations forgive us for our sins and all that we ask that we would do so in Christ's name and for his sake Amen