So we're starting a new sermon series today in the book of 1 Peter, and that's page 953 in the Pew Bible.
Let me invite you to turn there.
If you're new to Trinity, what we typically do on Sundays is we walk sequentially through an entire book of the Bible,
or at least an entire section of a book if it's a longer one.
And we do it this way because we want to make sure that we're hearing all of what God wants us to hear through his word and the scriptures.
If we were to simply kind of pick or choose or just go here or there, the danger is that we would miss the fullness of God's word to us and all that he wants to do in and through us.
So for the next few months, we're going to do that with the book of 1 Peter.
Let me read the opening verses.
We're just going to look at the first two verses this morning, and then I'll pray for us.
So 1 Peter 1, verses 1 and 2.
Peter starts his letter this way.
Let's pray together.
Father, we ask as we come now to your word, we pray for your grace and for your peace.
Lord, would you grant us the grace to understand what this word is saying to us today?
God, we thank you for the word of the apostles preserved for us in scriptures and mightily used by your spirit to impart your grace and to bring us into your peace.
So Jesus, do that today, we ask for your namesake.
Amen.
Okay, so 1 Peter.
1 Peter is a pretty relevant book for us because it was written to Christians who were having this experience.
They were finding that their conversion to Christianity had made them increasingly out of step and at times unwelcome in their surrounding community.
In other words, their newfound identity was creating all sorts of difficulties.
Again and again in this letter, Peter will talk about how they're being grieved by various trials.
That's chapter 1, verse 6.
That's chapter 2, verse 19.
But then we want to ask, what specifically does Peter have in mind?
What kind of trials?
What kind of difficulties?
Well, he actually goes on to say, in chapter 3, for example, he says, I see how you're being slandered and reviled for your good godly behavior.
And then in chapter 4, he'll say, I see how your neighbors are surprised when you don't join in the same things they're doing and then they malign you for it.
That's chapter 4, verse 4.
Or a little later in chapter 4, he says, I see how they're insulting you at times for the name of Christ.
So Peter sees how their newfound identity in Christ is creating all sorts of painful newfound difficulties in their workplace, in their neighborhoods, even in their own families.
Now, I don't think it's hard for us to relate to Peter's audience, is it?
But the question is, how do we live in light of this?
How do we respond?
You know, on the one hand, do we deconstruct our faith and winnow it down to something that maybe won't cause offense to our neighbors or our fellow workers or our families?
Do we kind of get rid of the parts that are countercultural and only keep the bits that are socially acceptable?
Well, that can't be the answer, can it?
That can't be the way to respond.
I mean, after all, Christianity, right?
Christianity is supposed to be good news.
Christianity is meant to be like a window that gets thrown open and lets a fresh breeze into the stuffy house, right?
But if we just kind of deconstruct the faith and only keep the socially acceptable bits and get rid of the countercultural parts, then we don't have any good news anymore, do we?
Maybe we just have an echo of what people already think.
You know, we kind of keep the window closed and we just keep breathing the same old stuffy air.
So that can't be the way, right?
So how then do we live when our newfound identity is creating all sorts of newfound difficulties?
Well, okay, maybe we don't kind of deconstruct our faith.
Maybe we just withdraw from our surroundings altogether.
Maybe we just have less and less interaction with our neighbors.
Well, you know, that looks and feels easier at first.
You know, you will certainly hear less criticism if you're not around to listen to it, right?
But again, as we know, Christianity is good news.
It's something we're meant to make known.
We want people to see it and hear it.
And if we withdraw, well, maybe we become more comfortable in the short term that we don't become more faithful.
So how do we live?
Maybe we don't withdraw, but, well, maybe we just fire back.
If we receive ridicule, maybe we give some ridicule in return.
If we face opposition, maybe we give some opposition back.
Now, of course, there's nothing wrong with standing courageously for our faith, but you can see that ridiculing or maligning in return,
it doesn't take long to realize that that can't be the way either.
Peter will say in chapter three of this letter,
So this is what Peter's going to tell us in this book.
In the midst of increasing social alienation and opposition, he says, stay present.
Don't withdraw.
Don't deconstruct.
Stay present and do what might be the most countercultural thing of all.
Live holy lives.
Love one another and bless.
But to be able to do that, to be able to live that way, we're going to need to reach more deeply into the resources of the gospel than ever before.
If you're going to live that way, a surface nominal faith won't get you there.
A just casual acquaintance with the things of Christ aren't going to do it.
We need to behold the reality of God in Christ and who we are in Christ and the story of God that we're a part of.
We need to hold and internalize those things more deeply, perhaps, than ever before.
And that's why Peter starts his letter the way he does in verses one and two.
Most ancient letters began by simply sort of stating the sender and then stating the recipient and then giving a real brief, like, I hope you're doing okay.
And you see some of that pattern here.
But what you also see is that Peter has kind of packed his opening with such rich theological content that you have to pause and slow down just to take it in.
And what Peter is doing here is he's reminding these Christians who are facing trials, he's reminding them right off the bat who they are.
If you want to understand your newfound identity and the newfound difficulties, if you want to begin to understand how to live in light of that, then you have to start by knowing who you are.
And you are, Peter says, you are the elect exiles of the triune God.
Now, I want to take the rest of our time unpacking these first two verses, and hopefully we can see who we are as the church and how we can live lives of blessing and holiness, even in the midst of trial.
And we're going to consider first, then, what it means to be the elect of the triune God.
And then second, we'll consider what it means to be the exiles of the triune God.
Okay, so first, if we're going to live rightly in the face of trials, if we're going to bless instead of curse, we have to know ourselves as the elect of the triune God.
Look again at verse one.
After introducing himself as the sender of the letter and as an apostle of Jesus Christ, now when Peter says, I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ, what we should hear in that is, okay, well, this just isn't some guy giving us good advice, right?
This is someone that Jesus himself appointed to teach in his name for the church for the rest of the church age.
So we have to slow down and listen to what Peter says, because these are the words that Jesus gave him for the church.
And then Peter writes to those who are, he says, to those who are elect.
And the word elect simply means chosen.
They're chosen.
Now, in the rest of verse one, we see that Peter is writing to Christians in what was then called Asia Minor, in what is today basically the country of Turkey.
These five provinces or regions were located kind of in the north-central part of modern-day Turkey.
And these areas, you know, this area, they probably had some Jewish presence.
So some of the Christians Peter's writing to were possibly from a Jewish background.
But it's most likely that these churches were predominantly Gentile.
As we read through first Peter, you'll see that when Peter starts to talk about their lives before coming to Christ, it sounds a lot more like a Gentile background than a Jewish background.
So Peter isn't writing to people.
He's not writing to Christians who had a nice moral religious upbringing.
He's writing to former pagans, polytheists, pragmatists, prostitutes, you name it.
Just like a lot of us.
But now he says, you are God's chosen.
God has set his saving love on you and made you his own.
Now the Old Testament pictures this choosing love of God in many ways.
Pictures it like the love between a parent and child.
It pictures it like the love between husband and wife.
Like the love between a benevolent king and his beloved people.
Peter's saying, you are God's prize.
You're God's treasure.
I wonder if you've ever had the experience of having kind of a prized possession.
You know, the sort of like stereotypical guy who has the like vintage Mustang in his garage that he like doesn't even let his kids like breathe on.
You know, that kind of thing.
Or maybe if you're a book lover, you've got like a first edition signed by the author of some favorite book of yours.
Some prized possession.
You know, how do you feel around that thing?
That thing that you chose and you love and maybe you even had to sacrifice for.
Sometimes you just like beholding it, don't you?
Kind of seeing it there on the shelf or taking a look at it in the garage.
Sometimes you get joy showing it off to your friends, right?
Letting them go for a ride with you or letting them page through it and see the signature on the title page.
Friends, that's how God feels about his people, about his chosen, about his elect.
And if that's true of us, then we can face trials both with great dignity and with great humility.
Now consider the dignity that comes from knowing ourselves as God's chosen, loved people.
With this word elect, Peter is actually connecting the New Testament church to Old Testament Israel.
In the Old Testament, Israel was God's chosen people.
And now Peter is saying, through faith in Jesus, you too, Gentiles, you're included in that chosen people.
The renewed people of God around Jesus the Messiah.
Imagine what that must have meant to these first century Christians.
It was showing them that being a member of the church, being a member of that group of followers of Jesus,
this wasn't just some passing novel fad.
Their conversion to Christianity wasn't like joining some social club that would be here today and gone tomorrow.
No, they were part of a people, a movement that was as ancient and enduring as the one true God's promises to Abraham.
When God chose Abraham and said that he would bless all the nations through him.
So they could hold their heads high with dignity, even when their neighbors ridiculed them or excluded them.
They didn't need to respond with anger or fear.
And friends, neither do we.
Knowing ourselves is chosen by God, loved by him, included in his ancient and forever people.
That brings us dignity in the face of trials.
But it also brings humility.
Now, I don't know about you, but maybe all this talk about being elect or being chosen,
maybe it kind of makes you a little uncomfortable, right?
I mean, talk about something that could go to your head in all the wrong ways, right?
It sounds incredibly pompous to say that you're the chosen, right?
How could that not make you insufferably proud?
But here's the thing.
A biblical understanding of election does just the opposite.
It is the thing that creates deep and true humility.
Why?
There's a great scene in the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy.
In Deuteronomy, Moses is reminding the people of their story before they enter the promised land.
And he's talking about how God chose them and liberated them from slavery in Egypt.
And he says in chapter 7, verse 6 of Deuteronomy, Moses says,
The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.
It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you.
For you were the fewest of all peoples.
But it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers.
You see, election, it can only produce pride if we think that God chooses people based on something in them.
But what does God say to Israel?
Does he say, I chose you because you were so numerous, so great, so strong, so faithful?
No!
God says, I didn't choose you because of anything in you.
I chose you because I love you.
And I'm keeping my promise to love you.
You see, God doesn't choose us because of the abundance of our merits.
He chooses us because of the abundance of his mercy.
Consider verse 2 of our text here in 1 Peter.
If you look down at verse 2, you see a bunch of clauses kind of stacked up.
And the clauses in verse 2 modify this idea of election in verse 1.
And they speak of the Father, the Spirit, and the Son.
Peter here, this is Peter speaking of the reality of God in ways that would eventually be articulated in the doctrine of the Trinity.
That the one God eternally exists as three persons, Father, Spirit, Son.
And notice, notice what Peter says.
First, he says, our election isn't because of anything in us.
Our election is according to the foreknowledge of God the Father.
Now, when the Bible says that God knows someone, it means more than God simply observes certain facts about someone.
Right?
Rather, biblical knowing is intimate relational love of another person.
So when Peter says our election is according to the foreknowledge of God the Father,
Peter's saying that the source of our election, the plan behind it, the cause of it, is God's eternal love.
God the Father set his knowing love on us from eternity past before we had done anything good to deserve it.
In eternity past, God the Father saw us when we were dead in sin, fallen and condemned in Adam,
without God and without hope in the world, and he knew us.
And he set a saving love on us.
But how did this eternal love that caused our election become real in time, in history?
How did we come to experience it?
Well, let's keep reading verse 2.
Peter says, in the sanctification of the Spirit.
Now, in the New Testament, the word in can often mean the instrument whereby something happens.
So our election comes in or by or through the sanctification of the Spirit.
Now, the word sanctification can sometimes mean, you know, when we use the word sanctification,
we can sometimes refer to the kind of ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life,
whereby he makes us more and more holy, more and more like Jesus.
But in the New Testament, sanctification can also mean not just this progressive work,
but our position before God, sort of a one-time act whereby the Holy Spirit sets us apart for God.
That's literally what sanctify means.
It means to set something apart as holy.
And it's that kind of sanctification that Peter's talking about here,
not our progressive sanctification after belief,
but our positional sanctification that happens when we become believers.
The sovereign act of the Holy Spirit setting us apart, cleansing us as holy,
translating us from death to life,
calling us out of darkness into God's marvelous light,
as Peter will later say in chapter 2.
So you see, what God the Father planned before the creation of the world,
the Holy Spirit has now actualized in history.
The Spirit applies what the Father has planned.
So you can begin to see how our election,
how our identity as God's beloved chosen people,
isn't something that creates selfish pride.
Is it something we planned?
No, God the Father planned it.
Is it something that we sort of actualized in our own life?
No, the Holy Spirit did that.
It's holy God's work, not our own.
And that ought to humble us.
But Peter actually then saves the best for last.
The Father planned it.
The Spirit applied it.
But what did the Father foreknow us for, we might say?
What did the Spirit sanctify us for?
Peter says,
For obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.
The purpose of God's sovereign, loving election is that we would bow to Jesus
and know the full forgiveness of our sins through his blood.
When Peter mentions obedience here,
you know, it's pretty obvious he's not saying that our obedience in any way contributes to our salvation or our election, right?
Notice, any obedience that we render to Jesus is a result of God's prior work.
Through the Father's eternal love, through the Spirit's renewal of our hearts,
our rebellious hearts are softened, and we gladly bow to Jesus as our Lord, and we live for him.
In other words, we aren't saved by our good works.
We're saved for good works.
But then again, Peter comes to the very best part.
He's saving the best for last.
And he says, we've been planned and set apart for, for what?
For the sprinkling with his blood.
Now, obviously, this is a reference to the cross, right?
But the metaphor of sprinkling comes from Exodus 24.
Remember, in Exodus 24, we read about how Moses sprinkled blood on the, on the, on the altar and on all these sorts of things.
When the people were gathered at Mount Sinai, when God made his covenant with Israel at Mount Sinai,
the people there, remember, they pledged their obedience to the Lord.
But God knew that they were a sinful people.
He knew that they wouldn't be able to keep their end of the covenant.
So in that, that decisive moment in Exodus 24,
when the people are being constituted as God's people,
and they said, yes, we'll follow you, Lord.
God knows they're sinful.
So what does he do when he knows they aren't going to be able to keep their end of the covenant?
He makes a sacrifice.
Rather than make the people bear the penalty for their inevitable sin,
God offers a substitute.
The wages of sin is death.
But God allows another to die in their place.
And in Exodus 24, the blood is sprinkled around to show that this sacrifice is for them and for their forgiveness.
But of course, the animal sacrifices were just a sign.
They were just a picture pointing ahead to the real sacrifice that God would make.
Because after all, animals can't really pay for human sin, can they?
And that's why God takes human nature into himself in the incarnation.
That's why he comes to earth in the person of Jesus,
so that after living the perfect life that we ought to have lived,
he might die in our place as the perfect substitute for our sins.
And because Jesus was fully God,
that sacrifice was perfect and complete for absolutely everyone
who would turn from sin and place their trust in him.
And God actually raised Jesus on the third day
to show that that sacrifice,
that perfect sacrifice was complete,
that it was finished,
that sin and death had been utterly defeated,
and that now new life could be had through the risen Lord Jesus.
So you see,
this is what God's election is all about.
It's about gathering a people from every tribe and tongue and nation
who would know the unbelievable grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
bow before him and worship him in love for all eternity,
knowing that all of their sins have been forgiven forever.
Now here's the good news.
If you sense your need for a savior,
if you see that your sins separate you from a holy God,
and if you see that God has lovingly set forth Jesus
as the perfect sacrifice for you,
that you might be reconciled to God and included in his people,
if you see those things,
if your heart's drawn out to those things,
then friends,
you don't need to worry about whether God has elected you or not.
You don't need to wring your hands wondering
if you're part of the chosen people.
If the spirit's already doing that work in your heart,
place your trust in the risen Jesus
and know that God promises to receive all who come to him
and will never cast them out.
You see,
above the family of God,
it's as if there's this great sign
that reads to everyone,
come to me,
all you who labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
That is the banner above the family of God,
the banner above the kingdom of God.
Come to me,
everyone,
and I will give you rest.
Everyone is welcome to come.
But here's the wonder.
As you step through
and you turn around
and you read what the sign says on the back,
it says,
I've known you before the foundation of the world.
So friends,
don't let the mystery
and wonder of election
keep you from trusting in Christ.
Let it be one more incentive
to step into this love
that God has prepared before time
for those who believe.
So Peter wants us to see then
that our election,
being God's chosen people,
is the work from beginning to end
of Father and Spirit and Son.
So when trials come,
when opposition or slander
or malice are cast our way,
we respond actually
with deep humility
because we know
our sins are great.
We know we don't deserve
this wonderful grace
in which we stand.
For we ourselves,
we were once foolish
and disobedient
and led astray
and slaves to various passions
and pleasures.
We passed our days
in malice and envy,
being hated by others
and hating one another.
But when the goodness
and loving kindness
of God our Savior appeared,
He saved us.
Not because of works
done by us in righteousness,
but according to His own mercy,
by the washing of regeneration
and renewal of the Holy Spirit,
whom He poured out on us richly
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
so that being justified
by His grace,
we might become heirs
according to the hope
of eternal life.
That's the book of Titus.
So this is what Peter
wants us to know first.
When you face opposition,
when you face trials,
remember that you're God's chosen,
beloved,
is elect.
But there's more.
Peter goes on to say
that we aren't just elect,
but we're also exiles.
So if we're going to live rightly
in the face of trials,
if we're going to bless
instead of curse,
we have to know ourselves,
yes,
as the elect of the triune God,
but also as the exiles
of the triune God.
Look again at verse 1.
Peter says this pretty clearly.
To those who are elect,
exiles of the dispersion
in Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
Okay,
so now this word dispersion
was literally used
in the first century
to talk about how
the Jewish people
had been dispersed
throughout the Roman Empire.
So the Jews who lived
outside of Palestine
were often called
the dispersion
or the diaspora.
But Peter here
is using the term metaphorically.
He's using it spiritually.
You see,
the New Testament people of God,
because we're at home with God
through his loving election,
we are now often strangers
in the world.
We're exiles,
living far from home
in what feels like
a foreign land.
You know,
I think half of our difficulty
when facing trials
is that we don't expect it.
We expect life
to be comfortable
or easy.
We expect things
to go our way.
But that's not
the New Testament picture.
You know,
we get upset
when we're misunderstood
for our faith
or we get discouraged
or we get tempted
to quit
when maybe our friends
are ridiculous
or our co-workers
say mean things about us
or whatever it is.
But Peter will say
in this letter,
look,
don't be surprised
when these things happen.
After all,
you're not home yet.
You are strangers.
You're exiles.
You're pilgrims
of the heavenly city.
Now imagine,
imagine if you,
if you moved
to a foreign country
and in that country
you,
you would,
you spoke a different language,
you ate different foods,
you wore different clothes
and all of the people
of that place.
You know,
of course you wouldn't
be surprised
if the people
of that new country
looked at you
a little funny,
right?
And maybe even
at times teased you
or even ridiculed you.
You'd probably expect
that to happen
from time to time.
And you see,
Peter is saying,
that's going to be
somewhat true
of Christians
no matter where we live.
Whether you're
from Pontus
or Galatia
or Cappadocia
or Asia
or Bithynia
or New Haven,
you're always
going to be
a bit of a stranger
in this fallen world.
So expect it.
Don't try to live
for the approval
of your neighbors
or your friends
or your coworkers
because you'll never
ultimately get it.
We're always going
to be a little strange
and a little different.
Why?
Well,
because we know
the saving love
of God,
the Father,
Spirit,
and Son.
The same reality
that makes us
God's beloved
chosen people
is the same reality
that makes us
exiles in the world
because now we live
not for the things
of this world
but for the triune God.
And that means
we simply can't live
like the world
any longer.
So the way
that we approach things
like how we spend
our money
or sex
or how we use
our privilege
or how we approach
marriage
or how we think
about justice,
it's all going
to be shaped
by the reality
of the triune God
and his word.
So there's always
going to be a bit
of an exile quality
to our life
in this world.
But
that doesn't mean
that we simply
reject the world.
The world
may reject us
at times
but that's not
how we're meant
to live in return.
You see this language
of exile
that Peter is using
it's also an Old Testament
idea
just like
the idea of election.
God's people
in the Old Testament
you remember
ended up in exile.
For them
it was because
of their sin.
Because of their sin
God scattered them
among the nations
carried them off
to captivity
in Babylon.
Now today
we aren't living
in this sort of
spiritual exile
because of our sin
but still
there's a parallel.
When God's Old Testament
people were in exile
how did he tell them
to live?
We read some
of those instructions
earlier in our service
from Jeremiah 29.
The temptation
would have been
to just reject
their surroundings
and look out
for themselves.
But what does God say?
He says
put down roots
buy homes
raise families
and try to bless
the city
in which you live.
Seek the peace
of the people
around you.
They won't
understand you.
They might ridicule you.
They might persecute you.
But this is your mission
in exile.
Be a new people
in the midst
of the old.
Be a counterculture
of grace
in the midst
of a culture
obsessed with performance.
Be a people
of the triune God
in the midst
of a world
captivated by idols.
This is how Peter
puts it in chapter 2
verses 11-12.
He says
Beloved,
I urge you
as sojourners
and exiles
abstain from the passions
of the flesh
which wage war
against your soul
and keep your conduct
among the Gentiles
honorable
so that even
if they speak
against you
as evildoers
they may see
your good deeds
and glorify God
on the day
Christ returns.
So remembering
our identity
as exiles
is very important.
First,
so we're not surprised
when we experience trials
and second,
so we remember
our mission
but third,
it's important
because in the biblical story
as Peter just alluded to
in that verse
I just read
in the biblical story
the exile
is not forever.
We're not always
going to be
strangers
and sojourners.
Remember the story.
In the Old Testament
God made a promise
that after 70 years
of exile
he would act
powerfully
and miraculously
to bring them home
and indeed
that's exactly
what God did.
The exile ends
and God's Old Testament
people,
they go home
and that's true
for us.
God's New Testament
people as well
except this time
he's going to make
his glory
cover the earth
like the waters
cover the sea.
When the exile
ends the second time
around
God's bringing
home
down to us
when Christ
returns
and he will
judge evil
and injustice
once and for all
and he will
remake this
broken creation
and make it
new again.
You see
to know yourself
as an exile
as a sojourner
as a pilgrim
is to live
in hope.
The trials
won't last
forever
the sufferings
won't endure
the ridicule
and slander
they're not
the last
word.
This is what
Peter will
say in verse
three and
he'll say it
over and over
again throughout
this book.
This book
that just
resounds
with hope.
Look down
at verse
three.
Blessed be
the God
and Father
of our
Lord Jesus
Christ.
According
to his
great mercy
he's caused
us to be
born again
to a living
hope.
Through the
resurrection
of Jesus
Christ
from the
dead
to an
inheritance
that is
imperishable
undefiled
unfading
kept in
heaven
for you
who by
God's
power
are being
guarded
through
faith
for a
salvation
ready to
be revealed
in the
last time.
So you
see as
elect
exiles
of the
triune
God
we are
people
above
all
not
just
of
dignity
and
humility
not
just
of
purpose
and
mission
but
we're
a
people
of
hope.
No
matter
what
trials
come
we have
this
unshakable
hope.
Why?
Because
of
God
Father
Spirit
Son
the
Father
who
knew
us
before
the
worlds
were
made
the
Spirit
who
set
us
apart
by
his
sanctifying
work
the
Son
who
shed
his
own
blood
and
won
our
glad
obedience
this
is
the
God
who
keeps
and
guards
not
just
our
inheritance
but
us
remember
who
you
are
Peter
says
this
is
who
you
are
God's
beloved
chosen
elect
people
yes
exiles
in the
world
but
my
beloved
remember
who
you
are
so
that
even
when
the
world
gives
you
its
worst
you
can
turn
and
bless
you
can
turn
and
seek
their
peace
you
turn
and
offer
them
the
same
good
news
that
we
have
received
the
good
news
of
the
God
who
loves
them
and
who
died
and
rose
again
so
that
they
too
might
live
let's
pray
together
our
father
in
heaven
help
us
in
the
coming
weeks
to
listen
to
the
apostles
words
in
this
book
to
believe
and
internalize
them
by
your
spirit
and
to
live
renewed
lives
of
resilient
hope
and
love
and
holiness
through
Jesus
Christ
our
Lord
we
ask
this
in
his
name
amen
...