Well, in August 2014, Kevin Garrett, who we just mentioned, was arrested by local authorities and placed in detention.
As a follower of Jesus, along with his wife Julia, they sought to serve the people of Asia, bringing practical aid and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with those that they met.
On Thursday of this week, Kevin was released after nearly two years' imprisonment and reunited with his family.
When I met Kevin a few years ago, he shared this verse about his work and ministry.
It comes from Philippians.
He put it up on a screen and he read,
For it has been granted to you, on behalf of Christ, not only to believe on him, but also suffer for him.
And Kevin then went on to explain that both he and his wife Julia knew that to serve Christ where they were would mean opposition and persecution.
They understood clearly that to be a follower of Jesus Christ meant that in some way you will get hit.
Now that's the big message of 1 Peter.
Have a look at chapter 1, verse 1.
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God's elect, that is God's chosen people who belong to God,
but are strangers in the world and have been scattered throughout.
Peter is writing to believers who, on the one hand, belong to Jesus,
but as a result of their belonging to Jesus, do not belong in this world.
In fact, look at the end of verse 6 of chapter 1.
They have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
They have been misunderstood.
They've been excluded.
They've been accused wrongly.
They've been abused and mocked.
Because they love Jesus, opposition and persecution is their daily experience.
Now, this is something we have to face up to ourselves.
If we are followers of Jesus, this will be our experience.
We might not have to leave our home or country.
We might not suffer prison like Kevin.
But to be a Christian means we will get hit.
One writer put it like this.
We have become outsiders, just as Jesus was an outsider.
We are marginal in our culture because Jesus is marginal.
The cross is the ultimate expression of marginalization.
And to follow Jesus, to follow his example, is to experience marginalization and hostility.
So the big question we want to ask ourselves today is, how do we live in this kind of culture?
How do we survive in this kind of world?
Well, rather than conform our beliefs to fit in or compromise our behavior to be accepted,
we are to live our lives as God's children in this world.
Two big things we're going to look at.
Here's the first one.
The commands to live as God's children.
Look at verse 13.
Therefore, so in view of the hostility we face, in view of the trials and the struggles,
verse 13, prepare your minds for action, be self-controlled,
set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
That's the big command of verse 13.
Set your hope.
Be clear of your hope.
You see, living life as a Christian now is going to be tough, but the future is glorious.
So we set our hope on that grace that is to come.
Now we've got to understand that hope in the Bible is not how we understand hope.
I hope that Chelsea will win the league, or I hope that it's going to be dry tomorrow.
Those things are uncertain and not guaranteed, especially if you're a Chelsea supporter.
However, the hope that is to come, the grace that we are to receive,
is absolutely guaranteed and totally assured.
That's what hope in Scripture is.
It is guaranteed.
That's what he told us in verse 3.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
In his great mercy, he has given us new birth, this new beginning, a fresh start,
into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead
and into an inheritance that can never perish, never spoil, never fade,
and it's kept in heaven for you.
Because Jesus rose from the grave, defeating our death, our future hope is guaranteed.
Later today, Mayo are going to play Dublin in the All-Ireland Final.
Now suppose Mayo knew they were going to win.
Somehow, they just knew that victory was theirs.
It was guaranteed.
They would still have to go out and play and compete and tackle and score.
But no matter the hits they take, no matter the intensity of the fight,
even if they went behind in the score,
they would keep on going because they knew victory was assured.
Well, that's how it is for us.
Our future is guaranteed.
So as we live in this hostile world,
no matter the hits that we take,
no matter how fierce the battle,
we can keep on going because our victory, our future, is sure.
Now the danger is,
and what can happen to us is this.
We can take our eyes off our future hope.
We can become overcome by the struggling and the trials and the difficulties as a Christian.
And we can begin to drift and opt out.
So he gives us this command,
set your hope on the grace that is to come.
How do we do that?
Well, look at verse 13 again.
Therefore, prepare your minds for action.
Engage your thinking intentionally and deliberately.
Start thinking about what God has promised us.
Saturate your thoughts with the glory that is to come.
In other words, we are to fill our minds with the truth of God's amazing promises.
We are to prepare our minds, verse 13,
and be self-controlled or some of the translations have it,
be sober-minded.
To be sober-minded means to be in control of your thinking.
Rather than being influenced by the world around you,
we are being influenced by what God has to say in his word.
I watched a chick flick once.
Only one of them.
Fifty first dates, if you can remember it.
I think I was there.
I can't remember anyway.
We'll not go there.
Bad, bad, bad to go there.
And in it, anyway, the story of it is,
is a wife who has an accident and loses her memory.
She can't remember who she is or those who love her.
So every morning when she wakes up,
she plays a video.
And in the video, her husband speaks to her,
reminding her of who he is,
that he is her loving husband,
and that she's got a wonderful daughter who she loves.
And he explains all these things, all these truths to her.
So as she begins each day,
she's reminding herself of the truth of who she is,
and she's able to live out her calling and her life as she should.
Now that's what he's telling us here.
Our minds are to be filled with the truth of God's word.
We need to play the video of the gospel story over and over again to our minds.
We need to tell it to us.
We need to meditate upon it.
We need to hear God say to us,
You are my child.
I have loved you and chosen you from before the creation of the world.
I have died for you.
I have given you an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.
You have a glorious future.
Set your hope on the grace that is to come.
So that's the first command.
Be clear of your hope.
And the second one is this.
Be holy like God.
Look at verse 15.
But just as he, that is God who called you, is holy,
so be holy in all you do,
for it is written,
Be holy because I am holy.
Now, holy in this context means to be separate and distinct.
So if God is holy, that means God is set apart.
God is different from everyone else and everything else.
He's full of purity, full of beauty.
There's no influence of evil and there's no hint of sin.
Now, do you see what we're called to?
If we are God's children, we are to become like God.
In other words, we are to pursue a life of holiness.
Verse 16.
Be holy because I am holy.
Now, in your Bibles, you'll see there's probably a little letter at the end of it
and you'll see there that it's actually a quote from the book of Leviticus.
Leviticus, that book in the Old Testament,
one of the books that we usually tend to avoid because to us,
well, it's a book full of strange laws that God gives to his people Israel.
He's rescued them from slavery and then he gives them all these laws
about what they can eat and what they can't wear,
where they can go and what they can't do.
And through all of these laws, God's people are being trained every single day.
They're being reminded every single day that they were different.
They now belong to God.
So when they sat down to have their food, their breakfast or their lunch,
when they got dressed in the morning and put on certain clothes,
when they went out to work, the things they could touch and not touch,
they couldn't get through any part of the day
without this reminder that they were separate,
that they were different, that they belonged to God.
So as they went out amongst the nations,
all this training would remind them that they were to behave as God's people.
They were different.
Now the same principle applies to us.
We are God's people
and we are to train ourselves to be holy.
We are to be separate and distinct,
not by the food we eat or the clothes we wear,
but by our behaviour.
Look at verse 14.
As obedient children,
as obedient children,
do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance,
but just as he who called you be holy,
so be holy in all you do.
We're to be different by our behaviour.
When you watch a great match on television,
like Dublin and Mayo this afternoon,
you watch the skill of the players.
They don't have to think about what to do.
In the intensity of the battle on the pitch,
it all becomes instinct.
It's almost habit.
It's habit.
Because they've been putting in the hard training through the months and through the winter,
they just perform.
It's just natural.
Now, in the same way,
as we pursue a life of holiness,
as we train ourselves to become like God,
when the hostility comes,
in the midst of the opposition and the fight on the pitch,
as it were,
we will obey.
It will become our natural instinct.
It will become our habit to obey Christ.
Rather than conform to the standards of this world
and fit in and live that way,
our habit will be naturally to obey Christ.
In other words,
if we are not training ourselves in holiness,
if we are not seeking to obey Christ,
when the hostility comes,
when the trial comes,
we will conform.
We'll buckle under the pressure.
And we'll begin to modify our behaviour
so that we do fit in.
And we are accepted.
So two very clear commands to God's children.
Be clear of your hope.
Get your minds in gear
and remember what is to come.
And the second command,
be holy like God.
Train yourself,
discipline yourself
to become holy like him
so that you can stand strong
in the heat of the battle.
The second big idea is this,
the motivation to live as God's children.
You see,
training to be holy,
preparing our minds for action,
sounds like hard work.
And I hope we sense that.
It is hard work.
It's going to be tough.
And because we're called to do this,
we need the right kind of motivation
to follow these laws,
to follow these commands.
So we have two motivations.
Here's the first one.
Our future judgment.
Look at verse 17.
Since you call on a father
who judges each man's work impartially,
live your lives as strangers here
in reverent fear.
Yes, God is our loving father
who chose us before the creation of the world,
who loves us deeply,
is also our judge.
He is our father
who judges each person's work impartially,
completely fairly.
One day,
every single one of us here
will have to stand before the father
and give an account for our lives.
Everything that we've ever said,
everything that we've ever done,
everything that we've ever thought,
our most public deeds
and our most private acts
will all be unveiled
and laid out before the father.
And we will have to give an account
for our life.
Why we did this
and why we didn't do that.
So because of God's coming judgment,
look at the end of verse 17.
Live your lives as strangers here
in reverent fear.
The fact that there's a future judgment
should motivate us
to live rightly today,
to follow out the commands
that he has given us.
In Matthew 10,
Jesus sends his disciples out into the world
to be his witness.
And as he does,
he says this.
He says to them,
I am sending you out like sheep
among wolves.
That it's going to be dangerous.
It's going to be hard.
And then he said this.
Do not be afraid of those
who can kill the body,
but cannot kill the soul.
Rather be afraid or fear the one
who can destroy both hell,
both soul and body,
in hell.
You see,
we fear what people think of us.
We fear,
what will people think of me
if I say what I believe?
We fear how people are going to treat us
if we talk about our faith in Jesus.
No,
says Peter.
Live your lives as strangers here
in reverent fear.
Don't be fearing the world.
Don't be fearing people's opinions of you.
It doesn't matter what people think of you.
Rather,
fear our Father
who is judge.
You see,
being God's children
does not give us this license
to live as we please
and think it doesn't matter.
It does matter.
God takes seriously
that calling.
He says,
I've called you
to be holy,
to live different,
to be my children
in this world.
So as children of the Father,
we want to take that seriously.
We want to please our Father.
We want to do what's right
as a demonstration
of our love for Him.
That we belong to Him.
So be motivated
by our future judgments.
But also,
as we look towards
our future judgment,
we should also look back
to our past redemption.
look at verse 18.
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 forefathers,
but with the precious blood
of Christ,
a lamb without blemish
or defect,
chosen
before the creation
of the world.
Now that's referring back
to a great event
in the Old Testament.
The Exodus.
That great act
of salvation
when God
redeemed
His people
from slavery
in Egypt.
God came
and He rescued them
from their cruel bondage
to Pharaoh
so that they could
come out
and belong to God
and be His people.
And central
to that redemption
was
the blood
of a lamb.
Let's remind ourselves
of that story.
Keep your finger
in 1 Peter
and go back
to Exodus chapter 12.
The story here
is what's called
the Passover.
Exodus chapter 12.
So God
has
heard their cry.
They're in slavery
and He has come
to rescue them.
And at the heart
of their rescue,
the heart of their redemption
was the blood
of a lamb.
Chapter 12
verse 3.
So God
speaks to Moses
and Moses speaks
to the people.
Verse 3.
He says,
Tell the whole community
of Israel
that on the tenth day
of this month
each man
is to take a lamb
for his family
one for each household.
So every family
takes a lamb.
Now read down
at verse 5.
The animals
you choose
must be year old males
without defect,
without blemish.
And you may take them
from sheep
or the goats
if they hadn't lambs.
Take care of them
until the 14th day
of the month
when all the people
of the community
of Israel
must slaughter them
at twilight.
Then they are
to take some
of the blood
and put it
on the sides
and the tops
of the door frames
of the houses
where they eat
the lambs.
Now why would you
go putting blood
all over your front door?
It seems rather gross
to us in our age
to think of getting
a paintbrush out
and slapping blood
all over it.
Well let's see
the reason.
Verse 12.
On that same night
God says
I will pass
through Egypt
and strike down
every firstborn
both men
and animals
and I will bring
judgment
on all the gods
of Egypt.
I am the Lord.
The blood
that they've painted
on the doors
will be a sign
for you
on the houses
where you are
and when I see
the blood
that you've put
on the doors
I will pass
over you
and no destructive
plague will touch
you
when I strike
Egypt.
Go back
to 1 Peter.
You see
the people knew
that they were
just like
in some sense
the Egyptians.
They were rebellious
and sinful.
They too
deserved God's
judgment
but God
in his grace
provided a way.
So we can picture
the scene
the father of the house
takes the lamb
and he slaughters
the lamb
he slits the lamb's throat
and as he does so
he's saying
this lamb
dies
instead of me
and my family.
As the blood
dripped onto the floor
it was a reminder
that the lamb
loses its life
so that they
might have life.
Judgment falls
not on the people
but on the lamb
a substitute.
Now says Peter
take all that picture
with us
and come back
to 1 Peter
and verse 18
and 19.
This he says
is what God
has done for us
in Christ.
We are people
who deserve
judgment
but Christ
the ultimate lamb
who was without sin
without blemish
without defect
has died
in our place.
When Jesus
went to the cross
as the drip
as the blood
dripped to the ground
he was giving
his life for us
so that we
might have life.
The judgment
falls
not on us
but on Jesus
the substitute.
All of this
means
look at the end
of verse 18
this means
that we have
now been
redeemed
from the
empty way
of life
handed down
to you
from your forefathers.
As we were born
into this world
we were born
with a sinful nature
a heart
that's rebellious
to God
and he's saying
I've now rescued
you from that
from that empty
way of living
and I've given you
a new way to live
you've now become
my children.
You see
when we face
hostility
in this world
when we feel
like outsiders
when we are
shut out
because of our faith
when we're
misunderstood
because of the
stand we take
when we're
accused wrongly
when we experience
this opposition
and persecution
we will be
tempted to look
for an easier
way
but remember
he says
to give up
and to go back
is actually
to go back
into an empty
way of life
the acceptance
that the world
offers
is empty
it will never
satisfy you
the belonging
that the world
gives you
is false
there's nothing
there for you
it's going back
into slavery
it's going back
under a harsh
master again
but Christ
has freed you
from that
and given you
a new life
therefore
verse 21
through him
you believe
in God
who raised him
from the dead
and glorified him
and so your faith
and hope
are in God
we've been rescued
from an empty
way of life
so don't go back
to it
it will destroy
you and kill
you
rather look
to the life
that Christ
gives you
which satisfies
you and fulfills
you
and gives you
that glorious
inheritance
so as we think
about these
commands
that we are
to live
to set our
hope
on what is
to come
to be holy
like God
we need our
motivation
our future
judgment
and our
past redemption
it's a little
bit like
driving a car
and I'll finish
with this
illustration
you picture
yourself
driving on
down the road
as you're
driving
you're looking
out the front
you're looking
through the screen
to what's coming
but at the same
time you always
have an eye
on your little
mirror to see
what's happened
behind
or what's going
on
and if you
keep looking
out there
and you keep
looking back
then you'll
drive safely
and it's
going to go
right
now in the
same way
that is what
we are to do
as we journey
on with
the Lord
we are to
look towards
our future
judgments
but we are to
look back in the
mirror to our
past redemption
we are to look
back and remember
all that Christ
has done for us
so that we can
keep on going
not in fear
of the sense
that he's never
going to accept
me but he will
accept me
because of
Christ
and because I
will face him
as judge
I will seek
to love him
and please
him
so we have
our focus
on the future
and on the
past
and that will
give us the
motivation
to keep going
forward
as God's
children
let's pray
together
thanks
to him
and
to be
Thank you.