WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.520 Good morning, church. It's good to see you all this morning. Our sermon text today is in the 00:00:05.520 --> 00:00:15.400 book of 1 Peter, chapter 2, verses 11 and 12. That's page 954 in the Pew Bible, and we'll have 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:19.940 it on the screen as well if you want to look at it there. We're looking at a short text today, 00:00:20.019 --> 00:00:24.920 just two verses, but these two verses are something like Peter's thesis statement for 00:00:24.920 --> 00:00:31.140 the whole letter, so we're going to take a close look at them together. As you turn there, let me 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:41.120 pray for us, and then I'll read. Let's go to the Lord together in prayer. Father, as we come before 00:00:41.120 --> 00:00:47.719 you in the quiet of our hearts now and together gathered as your people, Lord, we remember your 00:00:47.719 --> 00:00:56.560 promise that you have sent your Spirit to come and live in us and dwell in us and open our eyes to 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:03.560 the beauty of your Word and to remember again our Lord Jesus and, Father, in seeing Him and in 00:01:03.560 --> 00:01:09.140 worshiping Him to become more like Him. Lord, help us to trust you and to trust your Word. 00:01:09.140 --> 00:01:18.719 Lord, we pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen. All right, 1 Peter, chapter 2, verses 11 and 12. 00:01:19.960 --> 00:01:21.060 Peter writes this. He says, 00:01:21.140 --> 00:01:29.980 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war 00:01:29.980 --> 00:01:36.799 against your soul. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that when they speak against 00:01:36.799 --> 00:01:43.319 you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 00:01:46.140 --> 00:01:52.379 Well, so last week, Pastor Matt mentioned that being a Christian is a lot like being a foreigner 00:01:52.379 --> 00:01:59.840 in a different country. Sometimes being a foreigner can be a funny or an awkward experience. You know, 00:01:59.920 --> 00:02:04.340 you kind of say the wrong things at the wrong time. You sort of wear the wrong clothes to the wrong 00:02:04.340 --> 00:02:09.500 events. You feel a little dislocated, sometimes a little embarrassed. You know, maybe you felt that 00:02:09.500 --> 00:02:16.340 way traveling to a foreign country. I remember traveling to Missouri a number of years ago, 00:02:16.939 --> 00:02:21.680 which can feel a bit like a foreign country if you're from the Northeast, traveling all the way 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:27.520 to the Midwest. And Beth and I were picking up some food from the grocery store, and we had brought a 00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:33.219 cookbook from home so we could remember which ingredients we had to pick up. And in the checkout line, 00:02:33.219 --> 00:02:36.819 as we're checking out, the cashier said to us, you better leave that cookbook here. 00:02:37.979 --> 00:02:43.139 And immediately, we took offense. We thought she was accusing us of stealing this cookbook from the 00:02:43.139 --> 00:02:46.919 magazine aisle. We're like, no, no, we brought this from home. We did not steal this. Then she said, yeah, 00:02:47.379 --> 00:02:51.599 I know. I was saying you better leave it here so we can all take a look at those great recipes back 00:02:51.599 --> 00:02:59.400 in the break room. Turns out she was being nice. We're from New England. People you don't know aren't 00:02:59.400 --> 00:03:06.300 supposed to be nice to you. Well, thankfully, that is often our experience of being foreigners. It's a 00:03:06.300 --> 00:03:12.259 little awkward. It's a little funny. But, you know, that's not always the case, is it? Sometimes being 00:03:12.259 --> 00:03:19.420 a foreigner isn't merely an awkward experience. Sometimes being a foreigner is a dangerous 00:03:19.420 --> 00:03:25.920 experience. You're viewed with suspicion. You're seen as a threat. You're vulnerable. 00:03:25.919 --> 00:03:30.979 Sometimes you're not greeted with hospitality, but with hostility. 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:38.399 Now, Peter is writing to a group of first-century Christians who are experiencing just that kind of 00:03:38.399 --> 00:03:46.919 reality. But their position, you see, their status as foreigners isn't because they've moved far from 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:53.039 home to a strange land among strange people. No, they've actually become foreigners right in their 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:59.699 own hometown. In the very place where they used to be accepted, in the very place where they used to 00:03:59.699 --> 00:04:07.560 be protected, now they're strangers and foreigners. They're sojourners and exiles. Hospitality has turned 00:04:07.560 --> 00:04:18.120 into hostility. Why? Why has this happened? Well, because of their new allegiance to Jesus as Lord. 00:04:18.120 --> 00:04:25.699 Imagine, imagine being a new Christian going to dinner in the first century. You know, they get the invite. 00:04:26.060 --> 00:04:31.399 They head to their neighbor's home. Friends, perhaps, they've known for years. And as they walk in the door 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:35.959 and the dinner's about to begin, their host says, hey, let's bow and say a prayer to our household 00:04:35.959 --> 00:04:39.319 God together. You know, this meat that we're going to eat has been sacrificed in their honor. 00:04:39.319 --> 00:04:49.099 And suddenly, the Christian doesn't bow. And they can't in good conscience eat the meal. I'm sorry, 00:04:49.219 --> 00:04:57.639 they say, but I cannot. Why? Well, because they've come to believe that Jesus alone is Lord, 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:07.300 and allegiance to him means forsaking all other gods. So suddenly, socially, they're on the outside. 00:05:07.300 --> 00:05:12.699 But it's not just at the dinner table. It's out in the public square. Christians aren't going to the 00:05:12.699 --> 00:05:17.720 temples anymore. They're not going to the spas or the baths anymore. They've become completely out of 00:05:17.720 --> 00:05:23.160 step with the culture around them. And that didn't just make them strange. It made them offensive. 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:30.100 So they weren't accepted, and they weren't liked. They were reviled. 00:05:32.019 --> 00:05:37.080 Many times, being a Christian wasn't seen as merely neutral. It was increasingly seen as negative. 00:05:37.300 --> 00:05:45.180 It was bad. Now, I don't know about you, but I think we're feeling a similar shift in some ways 00:05:45.180 --> 00:05:51.740 today, aren't we? To be a follower of Jesus, to hold to the historic faith in Christ, isn't just 00:05:51.740 --> 00:05:57.540 viewed as neutral, but negative. Christians are characterized increasingly as exclusive or 00:05:57.540 --> 00:06:00.360 intolerant or unloving or narrow-minded. 00:06:00.360 --> 00:06:06.960 So how does Peter counsel us, then, in this kind of context, to live? 00:06:08.379 --> 00:06:12.439 When the culture we live in isn't just neutral, but hostile. When being a Christian isn't just seen 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:14.520 as unpopular, but deeply problematic. 00:06:17.280 --> 00:06:18.139 How do we live? 00:06:20.540 --> 00:06:23.199 Well, Peter's going to tell us in these short couple of verses 00:06:23.199 --> 00:06:25.180 to do three things. 00:06:26.259 --> 00:06:30.360 And we can state these three things briefly, and then we're going to unpack them in the rest of 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:36.899 our time together. And the three things he tells us is, he tells us to abstain, and then he tells us 00:06:36.899 --> 00:06:43.560 to maintain, and then he tells us to remember who you are. Abstain, maintain, and remember who you are. 00:06:43.659 --> 00:06:47.579 So let's look at those three things. First, he says abstain. Look again at verse 11. 00:06:47.579 --> 00:06:52.659 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, 00:06:53.079 --> 00:06:58.379 which wage war against your soul. So first, Peter's saying, in a context of hostility to being 00:06:58.379 --> 00:07:04.479 a Christian, abstain from sinful passions. Now, let's talk for just a second about what Peter means 00:07:04.479 --> 00:07:11.560 by passions of the flesh. First off, this term, passions of the flesh, it doesn't just refer to, 00:07:11.779 --> 00:07:16.439 you know, things like sexual sins or drunkenness. Actually, you know, when the New Testament talks about 00:07:16.439 --> 00:07:22.660 the flesh, that's a bit of a technical term that's talking about our sinful nature as a whole. 00:07:23.300 --> 00:07:30.360 It's that part of us that's self-centered and self-gratifying rather than God-centered and God-gratifying. 00:07:31.220 --> 00:07:35.120 Yes, at times it can look like lust or drunkenness, but it can also look like self-pity. 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:39.240 It can also look like envy. It can also look like slander. 00:07:39.240 --> 00:07:47.660 Now, when someone becomes a Christian, when someone turns from trusting in themselves and 00:07:47.660 --> 00:07:53.420 trusting in Christ, they're given a new spiritual nature. As Peter has mentioned multiple times in 00:07:53.420 --> 00:07:59.180 this letter so far, Christians are those who've been born again or born anew through the resurrection 00:07:59.180 --> 00:08:04.680 of Jesus from the dead. So that means if you are a Christian, you're no longer ruled or dominated 00:08:04.680 --> 00:08:11.420 by that old sinful nature. It's not the operating system of your life anymore. Your life used to run 00:08:11.420 --> 00:08:16.560 on self-centeredness and self-gratification. Even the good things that we used to do were done to get 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:23.060 praise or get significance or to look good, but not anymore. The Spirit has come and has given us, 00:08:23.160 --> 00:08:29.899 given you a new operating system, one that's God-centered and God-gratifying. You delight to do good now for 00:08:29.899 --> 00:08:39.620 God's sake. But even though you have this new operating system, in this life, our old sinful 00:08:39.620 --> 00:08:45.620 nature, it still remains there. You know, it's sort of like getting a brand new furnace in your home. 00:08:46.220 --> 00:08:50.899 You know, you get this brand new furnace. It's this new energy-efficient beauty that saves you a ton of 00:08:50.899 --> 00:08:56.159 money. It's really good for the environment. But there in your basement, that old boiler is still there. 00:08:56.159 --> 00:09:02.419 And if you wanted to, you could always go down, fire that thing up, and burn some oil if you wanted to. 00:09:05.600 --> 00:09:12.759 So here's what Peter wants to tell us. He says, when the pressure is on, when you're facing rejection 00:09:12.759 --> 00:09:19.879 or hostility as a follower of Jesus, don't let the passions of your old sinful nature take control. 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:23.799 Don't go down in the basement and fire up the old boiler. 00:09:26.600 --> 00:09:28.980 And we need to hear Peter's exhortation, don't we? 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:39.519 Isn't it easy when you're feeling ostracized or rejected to respond by indulging those self-centered 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:42.620 and self-gratifying desires of the old nature? 00:09:42.620 --> 00:09:48.720 You know, sometimes when we're feeling rejected or feeling ostracized or feeling under pressure, 00:09:49.080 --> 00:09:55.759 you know, sometimes we turn back to those old desires to just escape, to get comfort when we're 00:09:55.759 --> 00:10:03.620 feeling rejected. Sometimes we do it, we turn back to those old ways to fit in and avoid the rejection, 00:10:04.259 --> 00:10:06.080 to be accepted and liked by our peers. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:13.700 Sometimes we do it to get even. We indulge our anger or our frustration. We cut people down and 00:10:13.700 --> 00:10:22.500 we ridicule them in return. But Peter says, beloved, abstain. Abstain, he says. 00:10:24.220 --> 00:10:29.540 Don't you see these old passions? He says, they wage war against your soul. 00:10:29.539 --> 00:10:34.139 They're like a cancer eating you from the inside out. 00:10:35.399 --> 00:10:39.379 So don't indulge them at all for one minute. Be vigilant. Be active. 00:10:41.139 --> 00:10:45.740 And notice Peter says, abstain even from the passions, even from the desires of the old nature, 00:10:46.019 --> 00:10:51.459 the thoughts, the inclinations, the feelings. Don't harbor them. Don't foster them, he says. 00:10:52.159 --> 00:10:56.779 You know, how many times when we've been ridiculed or mistreated, do we kind of run through in our minds 00:10:56.779 --> 00:11:01.899 all the maybe angry things we'd like to say back in return and how we'd win all the arguments and 00:11:01.899 --> 00:11:06.299 prove ourselves and belittle them like they've belittled us. And we nurse these thoughts and 00:11:06.299 --> 00:11:10.079 passions over in our minds and in our hearts. And, you know, we think, no, I'd never say those 00:11:10.079 --> 00:11:15.579 things out loud. I'd never actually act on them. But we still kind of let them fester up inside. 00:11:15.579 --> 00:11:21.740 But Peter says, don't you see, even harboring and fostering those desires, those feelings, 00:11:21.740 --> 00:11:32.340 feelings. It's warring against your own soul, your precious eternal soul that Christ loves and died 00:11:32.340 --> 00:11:40.159 for. So when the pressure mounts and when you're facing hostility for being a Christian, when you're 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:46.480 tempted to go back to the old nature, abstain, Peter says. Don't go back and fire up that old 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:52.560 boiler. Put on the brakes in your mind, in your heart. Don't even let the desires or thoughts rest. 00:11:52.720 --> 00:11:56.200 Shoo them away. Do it for the sake of your own soul, Peter says. 00:12:00.139 --> 00:12:04.779 Okay, but Peter doesn't stop there. He doesn't just tell us to abstain. He goes on to tell us to 00:12:04.779 --> 00:12:12.100 maintain. Look at verse 12. Verse 12, he says, keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable so that 00:12:12.100 --> 00:12:16.759 when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of 00:12:16.759 --> 00:12:24.200 visitation. So in a context of hostility to being a Christian, Peter says second, maintain, keep, maintain 00:12:24.200 --> 00:12:32.259 your conduct. Keep it honorable. Now, so much of what Peter is going to do in the coming sections of 00:12:32.259 --> 00:12:39.160 this letter is to show us practically what this looks like in real time and in real life situations. 00:12:39.159 --> 00:12:43.819 He's going to go on to speak about citizens and rulers, our civic life. He's going to go on to talk 00:12:43.819 --> 00:12:48.459 about servants and masters. He's going to go on to talk about husbands and wives. And then he's going 00:12:48.459 --> 00:12:52.600 to go on to talk about all of us as we live in the midst of our unbelieving neighbors and co-workers 00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:58.219 and family members. And as Peter kind of gets into the details in these coming sections, some of these 00:12:58.219 --> 00:13:03.419 topics are going to be tricky. They're going to be tough. Peter's instructions for us that we're going to 00:13:03.419 --> 00:13:07.659 look at in the coming weeks, they're full of countercultural principles and approaches. 00:13:07.659 --> 00:13:14.139 Some of what he says to us might seem odd. Some of what he says to us might even feel a little 00:13:14.139 --> 00:13:22.959 offensive. Now, over the next few weeks, starting next Sunday, after the sermons, we're actually 00:13:22.959 --> 00:13:27.360 going to have some time for question and answer and discussion after the service downstairs in the 00:13:27.360 --> 00:13:30.779 lower level meeting room. So what we're going to do in these coming weeks as we dive into the 00:13:30.779 --> 00:13:34.600 practical things that Peter's going to talk to us about, we're going to see what he has to say in 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:38.879 the sermon during the service, and then we can talk about it afterwards if you'd like. So starting 00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:42.639 next week, if you want to come, leave a little extra time after the service to come. We'll talk 00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:47.000 a little bit more in detail about some of Peter's instructions after the sermon, do some Q&A, do some 00:13:47.000 --> 00:13:51.759 discussion. That's starting next week. But here in our text this morning, Peter's giving us, as it is, 00:13:51.759 --> 00:14:02.919 the general principle, the general principle is keep your conduct honorable. Keep living lives of good 00:14:02.919 --> 00:14:09.639 deeds. Keep pursuing what is good, even when you're being spoken against as evildoers. 00:14:11.639 --> 00:14:17.759 Why? Well, you know, Peter on the one hand said, hey, abstain from sinful passions for the sake of your 00:14:17.759 --> 00:14:23.840 own soul. It's like tearing you apart. But here he says, keep living honorable lives for the sake of 00:14:23.840 --> 00:14:30.960 your neighbors. The very ones who are speaking against you as evildoers, do it for their sakes. 00:14:33.120 --> 00:14:39.639 Why? He says that they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. 00:14:42.039 --> 00:14:47.080 Now, what exactly does Peter have in mind here? What does it mean to glorify God on the day of 00:14:47.080 --> 00:14:52.460 visitation? So let's pause and think about that phrase for just a second. Well, this phrase, the 00:14:52.460 --> 00:14:59.639 day of visitation or a day of visitation, that can refer in Scripture to God coming in judgment. 00:15:00.920 --> 00:15:07.879 But it can also refer to God coming in salvation. When God visits, it can be to visit in judgment or 00:15:07.879 --> 00:15:14.759 to visit in salvation. You see one of those moments of salvation in Luke chapter 1. Remember Zachariah's 00:15:14.759 --> 00:15:19.580 song that we looked at a couple weeks ago in the Christmas season? Zachariah said, blessed be the 00:15:19.580 --> 00:15:26.019 Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people. So when we're thinking about God's day 00:15:26.019 --> 00:15:30.980 of visitation, we have to sort of look at the context to know whether Peter's talking about judgment here 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:35.799 or talking about salvation. So what does the context have to tell us? Well, it's interesting this verb 00:15:35.799 --> 00:15:43.240 glorify, glorify God. That verb glorify occurs something like 60 times in the New Testament, 00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:54.179 and it's never used to speak of unbelievers who are forced unwillingly to admit that God or his people 00:15:54.179 --> 00:16:03.299 have been in the right. Just the opposite. Almost always glorifying God is a positive thing that's done 00:16:03.299 --> 00:16:10.699 unwillingly. So when Peter says that some people will glorify God on the day of visitation, 00:16:11.319 --> 00:16:18.779 he seems to be talking about unbelievers becoming believers in salvation. He seems to be saying 00:16:18.779 --> 00:16:24.799 that some of those who used to revile Christians will see their good works, and God will then use 00:16:24.799 --> 00:16:30.059 that to their conversion. They will turn and be saved and believe the gospel and give glory to God. 00:16:30.059 --> 00:16:36.479 Now, we can tell we're on the right track with that reading because Peter says the exact same 00:16:36.479 --> 00:16:41.019 thing about unbelieving husbands, as he's going to, in the next couple of sections, he's going to start 00:16:41.019 --> 00:16:45.359 talking about husbands and wives. And in chapter 3, verses 1 and 2, he's going to talk about unbelieving 00:16:45.359 --> 00:16:49.559 husbands, and he says that some unbelieving husbands will be one to the faith when they see 00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:52.079 the good conduct of their believing wives. 00:16:52.080 --> 00:16:59.860 So for Peter, keeping our conduct honorable, even when people revile us, 00:17:01.300 --> 00:17:07.779 it's all about mission. It's all about doing it for our neighbor's sake, for the glory of God. 00:17:08.360 --> 00:17:12.680 It's about people seeing our good deeds and giving glory to our Father in heaven, 00:17:13.180 --> 00:17:17.500 as Jesus himself taught in the Sermon on the Mount that Kim read for us earlier in the service. 00:17:17.500 --> 00:17:25.019 We want to maintain lives of honor and good works, of love and charity, of patience and kindness, 00:17:25.460 --> 00:17:30.819 of sacrificial generosity and love, so that some might see these good works 00:17:30.819 --> 00:17:36.900 and perhaps might come to truly glorify God in Jesus Christ, even though right now they don't get 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:39.480 it, and even though right now they might speak against us. 00:17:39.480 --> 00:17:49.599 Now, stepping back from these two commands in verses 11 and 12 and, you know, kind of taking them both in together, 00:17:50.279 --> 00:17:53.160 you start to see how kind of countercultural this all is, don't you? 00:17:54.860 --> 00:18:00.400 Peter's saying, look, sometimes when your culture's hating you for following Jesus, 00:18:01.220 --> 00:18:02.819 he says, do you know who your biggest enemy is? 00:18:02.819 --> 00:18:05.819 It's your own sinful nature. 00:18:07.240 --> 00:18:08.480 That's where the real battle is. 00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:10.039 That's the real danger zone. 00:18:11.240 --> 00:18:14.859 And do you know who you need to think about the most when you do good and live honorable lives? 00:18:14.919 --> 00:18:16.179 Do you know who you should be doing that for? 00:18:18.899 --> 00:18:21.439 For the very people who revile you and speak against you. 00:18:21.619 --> 00:18:23.139 Do it for their sake, for their good. 00:18:25.419 --> 00:18:27.419 Now, that's totally upside down, isn't it? 00:18:28.139 --> 00:18:29.179 I mean, think about it. 00:18:29.180 --> 00:18:34.200 When someone attacks you or slanders you or makes false allegations against you, what's your natural response? 00:18:35.160 --> 00:18:37.700 Your natural response is to think, well, they're the real problem. 00:18:38.259 --> 00:18:40.380 And I'm going to start doing good just for my own sake. 00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:42.860 But Peter says, no, that's not how you're supposed to operate. 00:18:43.680 --> 00:18:45.820 You need to see that the real battle's inside yourselves. 00:18:45.940 --> 00:18:47.039 That's how you respond. 00:18:47.620 --> 00:18:51.000 And you must turn and do good for their sake so that they might be saved. 00:18:54.840 --> 00:18:57.259 How in the world do we get to that place? 00:18:57.259 --> 00:19:03.859 That completely upside down, inside out approach to living life that's so strange and so foreign. 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:10.059 Well, that brings us to the last point that Peter makes in this text. 00:19:10.500 --> 00:19:12.299 And he makes it briefly. 00:19:12.559 --> 00:19:14.119 Almost, it feels like in passing. 00:19:14.720 --> 00:19:16.140 But he makes it all the same. 00:19:17.019 --> 00:19:19.440 And it's found in the very first word of verse 11. 00:19:20.400 --> 00:19:21.940 When he calls us beloved. 00:19:24.000 --> 00:19:24.400 Beloved. 00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:30.060 And with that word, Peter's saying, remember who you are, church. 00:19:31.220 --> 00:19:36.620 In a context of hostility to being a believer, Peter says, remember who you are. 00:19:38.180 --> 00:19:42.080 You're not just beloved to me, your apostle, Peter is saying. 00:19:42.140 --> 00:19:44.540 But more importantly, you're beloved by God. 00:19:44.539 --> 00:19:52.240 Peter actually begins each of the two main sections of his letter in this way. 00:19:52.680 --> 00:19:57.940 The first one's here in chapter 2, verse 11, which kind of launches Peter into the first main section of his letter. 00:19:58.279 --> 00:20:05.000 And then it happens again in chapter 4, verse 12, where Peter kind of launches into the second main part of the body of this letter. 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:08.659 He begins each section by calling them beloved. 00:20:08.660 --> 00:20:16.279 And then he actually ends each of those two sections in chapter 4, verse 11, in chapter 5, verse 11, with a doxology. 00:20:16.880 --> 00:20:18.980 To him be glory and dominion forever and ever. 00:20:19.040 --> 00:20:19.279 Amen. 00:20:19.840 --> 00:20:22.620 And then in 511, to him be dominion forever and ever. 00:20:22.700 --> 00:20:23.019 Amen. 00:20:23.400 --> 00:20:25.820 So you see, Peter's letter has this beautiful structure. 00:20:26.320 --> 00:20:29.700 Beginning by calling us and reminding us that we're God's beloved. 00:20:30.040 --> 00:20:32.800 And ending in the glory of our Lord Jesus. 00:20:32.799 --> 00:20:40.240 Now, why does Peter want to start each of his main sections with this reminder of who we are? 00:20:42.579 --> 00:20:49.139 Because when we lose sight of who we are as God's beloved, we lose our bearings to everything else. 00:20:49.140 --> 00:20:58.500 God's love, friends, is the thing that keeps us from indulging sinful passions in the midst of trials. 00:20:58.800 --> 00:21:02.840 When we're hurt or lonely or angry or afraid. 00:21:04.580 --> 00:21:09.700 God's love is the thing that keeps us from giving up the often hard work of doing good. 00:21:10.440 --> 00:21:13.620 When it's costly, when we feel like we're not making a difference. 00:21:13.619 --> 00:21:20.919 God's love is the thing that helps us to see that even though our neighbors revile us and speak evil against us, 00:21:20.959 --> 00:21:22.479 they too are made in God's image. 00:21:22.899 --> 00:21:26.299 And they too can know the same grace that God has given us in Christ. 00:21:27.819 --> 00:21:32.619 God's love is the thing that keeps us rooted and grounded in all of these realities. 00:21:34.619 --> 00:21:40.619 But it's not just a sort of idea or a sort of intellectual knowledge of God's love in general. 00:21:40.619 --> 00:21:43.099 It's not just saying, yes, God is a loving God. 00:21:43.479 --> 00:21:46.500 But it's knowing God's love personally to you. 00:21:46.639 --> 00:21:50.359 It's experiencing yourself as God's beloved. 00:21:52.059 --> 00:21:56.819 Because there's a difference, right, between saying, yes, God is love and saying, he loves me. 00:22:02.619 --> 00:22:07.059 And do you remember, do you remember, isn't this how Jesus' ministry began? 00:22:07.059 --> 00:22:11.399 Jesus was about to begin his earthly ministry. 00:22:11.599 --> 00:22:16.720 He was about to do good works of mighty power that would bring many people to faith. 00:22:17.279 --> 00:22:20.279 He was about to wage war against sin and death itself. 00:22:20.819 --> 00:22:23.859 He was about to face rejection and hostility. 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:27.619 And how did his public ministry begin? 00:22:27.619 --> 00:22:34.959 Well, it began at his baptism when the heavens were opened and the spirit descended like a dove. 00:22:35.619 --> 00:22:40.379 And the father said from heaven, this is my son, the beloved. 00:22:42.379 --> 00:22:43.359 The beloved. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:51.159 The whole of Jesus' ministry was taken up under this banner of God's beloved son. 00:22:51.160 --> 00:22:58.960 And friends, the good news of Christianity is that the whole of our lives can be lived under that same banner. 00:23:01.700 --> 00:23:07.380 Because at the heart of Christianity is the message that what Jesus did, he did for us. 00:23:08.060 --> 00:23:12.180 So that what's true of him can be true for us. 00:23:15.019 --> 00:23:16.040 What did Jesus do? 00:23:16.140 --> 00:23:19.140 Well, Jesus lived and died and rose again. 00:23:19.140 --> 00:23:20.980 And the good news is he did that for us. 00:23:21.820 --> 00:23:23.360 He lived a perfect life for you. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.920 And he died to pay sin's penalty for you. 00:23:26.000 --> 00:23:28.580 And he rose again to conquer the grave for you. 00:23:28.720 --> 00:23:31.840 So that now what's true of him can be true for you. 00:23:32.180 --> 00:23:36.600 So that by placing your trust in Christ, his perfect life can be credited to you. 00:23:36.920 --> 00:23:39.900 And his sin-bearing death can take away your guilt before God. 00:23:40.360 --> 00:23:43.660 And so that his eternal resurrection life can be yours now and forever. 00:23:43.660 --> 00:23:53.420 And the wonderful news is the banner over it all when you're united to Christ by faith is that the Father speaks over you the very same words he spoke over Jesus. 00:23:53.940 --> 00:23:55.660 You are my beloved. 00:23:57.120 --> 00:24:00.000 With you, I'm well pleased. 00:24:00.000 --> 00:24:05.339 And that's where it all begins. 00:24:07.819 --> 00:24:09.440 Knowing that we're God's beloved. 00:24:10.779 --> 00:24:16.400 You see, we don't abstain from the passions of our sinful nature alone or in our own strength. 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:18.180 We never could. 00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:22.660 But we can as God's beloved children. 00:24:24.019 --> 00:24:28.440 And we don't maintain honorable lives among our neighbors alone or in our own strength. 00:24:28.720 --> 00:24:30.120 We do it as his beloved. 00:24:31.019 --> 00:24:35.120 United to our Savior through the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. 00:24:38.039 --> 00:24:42.400 So we may be foreigners and sojourners and exiles in this age. 00:24:43.360 --> 00:24:47.200 And as foreigners, we may be reviled and spoken against as evildoers. 00:24:47.200 --> 00:24:51.100 But that does not change how God sees his church. 00:24:52.019 --> 00:24:55.759 He looks upon his people, his bride, and he calls you. 00:24:55.840 --> 00:24:57.180 He calls us his beloved. 00:24:58.740 --> 00:25:01.680 And as his beloved, we have this mission. 00:25:02.740 --> 00:25:04.420 To live among the nations. 00:25:04.600 --> 00:25:06.360 To live good, honorable lives. 00:25:06.539 --> 00:25:13.640 So that even if we're spoken against by God's power, some will see our good works, hear the good news, 00:25:13.640 --> 00:25:17.220 and come to glorify God and praise him on the last day. 00:25:18.560 --> 00:25:19.480 Let's pray together. 00:25:27.080 --> 00:25:30.240 Father, what a high and holy calling it is 00:25:30.240 --> 00:25:35.319 to live honorable lives in the midst of this world. 00:25:36.319 --> 00:25:46.880 So that our good deeds can resound to your glory through the life of those who come to know Jesus through our witness. 00:25:46.880 --> 00:25:50.760 Lord, we think about that and we say, 00:25:50.860 --> 00:25:52.440 Who is sufficient for these things? 00:25:54.280 --> 00:25:58.580 We think about all the ways in which we fall short each day to live up to that calling. 00:26:02.180 --> 00:26:07.020 But Jesus, thank you that you said that the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. 00:26:07.019 --> 00:26:16.400 That even these small acts of kindness and faith can grow into mighty oaks, mighty trees. 00:26:18.680 --> 00:26:22.879 Thank you for the gift of your spirit, Father, who continues to live and dwell in us. 00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:26.539 So that we might live as the people you've called us to be. 00:26:28.019 --> 00:26:29.740 We pray all this in the name of Jesus. 00:26:30.220 --> 00:26:30.460 Amen.