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Well, it’s good to be back. This is what I heard from everyone coming back is that Richie did an amazing job. I’m going to live in his shadow for the rest of my life, which is great. I happened to call right before the service on Sunday, when the youth was rolling in, and I asked how it went with the youth retreat we just had last weekend, and what I was told is they all came in broken. They all came in limping, which we consider that here at Alpine Bible Church of Success. And all the kids come back tired, worn out, broken for you as As parents, we did our job right. Because you get one extra day while they sleep and catch up. So you’re welcome to Richie, right? We’re going to begin a new series together. It’s called living Hope. It’s based on the book of First Peter. So I encourage you, if you if you have a Bible with you, go ahead and turn in your Bible to the book of First Peter. Um, you can grab one out of the seat in front of you as well. If you want to know where First Peter is. We just finished a series out of First John. As a church, we love going through books of the Bible to see how God communicated His Word to us, but it’s just two books in front of First John, so it’s easier to find in your Bible.
Just go towards the end. And when you see some John’s in the very back before revelation, just take a left and you’ll know first Peter will be right there. Reason we’re looking at first Peter together is because first Peter is a very interesting book, a very practical book for us in our lives. Peter talks much in this book about trials and overcoming trials, and the thing that blows my mind away. We’re not going to get this to this today, but it happens in verse six. Peter says this in this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials. What’s he talking about? Rejoicing in trials. How does that even happen? This guy must be on some sort of medication to do that. Because when I go through trials, the first thing that I want to happen in my life is just complain. And whoever’s around me needs to hear the complaints that I have of woe is me feel sorry for myself. Well, Peter talks in this book about living with a hope, and he addresses the area of our lives dealing with trials. How do we handle that? I mean, can you believe in the same verse? The Bible talks about rejoicing and trials. What a contradiction with our minds. But it’s in the midst of trials that Peter writes this book to fellow believers. It’s a reminder to all of us that really, life can be a trial, and sometimes we live life as if we’re always on trial.
Peter sees the heart of a church that he’s writing, experiencing various persecutions in their lives, and he writes the book of First and Second Peter towards the end of his life, just before his very death, a death that he’s facing because of persecution he’s receiving for being a Christian. And so he’s writing this book not only to encourage a church, but he’s also writing it from personal experience. Maybe I’ve skipped too far ahead by saying Peter wrote this book, but let me show you where we get that from. First Peter chapter one and verse one. The very first word says Peter. Tremendous indicator to us as people that the author of the book would be Peter. Much like we would start a letterhead today with our name at the beginning, comma, or to who it’s addressed, I should say, and then a comma. Peter then begins his letter by telling us who it’s addressed to. But as Peter begins his letter, he says, Peter written to us as people, an apostle of Jesus Christ. I think to myself when I read this book of Peter, having lived a life pursuing after Jesus, now writing this towards the end of his life, who better as people for us to receive a book on trials than from one who went through various trials throughout his whole life? Peter had tremendous access in his life to experiencing what it meant to to live for Jesus and to even be with Jesus.
It tells us in Scripture, if you want to get to know Peter a little bit more, that Peter was married. At one point, Jesus healed Peter’s mother in law. Another good indicator that Peter would be married, right? Peter was a small business owner. He worked in the fishing industry with his brother Andrew. It was through his brother Andrew, that Andrew came to know the figure that we call in the Bible, John the Baptist. He wasn’t the First Baptist, but John and Andrew had a friendship that later connected Andrew to Jesus. And because of Andrew’s relationship with John the Baptist in connection to Jesus that then brought Peter into relationship with Christ. It tells us in Scripture that Peter walked with Jesus throughout the three years of his ministry that occurred here on earth. Peter would have seen Jesus’s miracles. Peter would have saw the dead come back to life. Peter was the one who, after all, walked on water. And how cool is that? I can remember as a kid in the pool trying to to mimic that scene with a board or a door that floated. Our friends thought it was great. We put it all over Facebook as those kids are sitting on the door and walking on water, just like Peter.
He was a part of the inner circle of disciples, which means when Jesus picked his disciples, he he chose 12 to follow him intimately. But then out of the 12, he then selected three that we refer to in Scripture as his inner circle. Peter being one of those three. Peter was there when Jesus was transfigured on the Mount of Olives. He was there when Jesus was betrayed. Scripture records for us that Peter was considered the head of the early church. When you read the book of acts after Jesus ascended into heaven, it was Peter who then led the church. Peter gives the very first sermon ever preached in Scripture after Jesus ascension in acts chapter two. And it tells us, upon hearing that sermon that over 3000 people came to Jesus. Could you imagine that up on Bible Church would have to move for sure. But Peter, who better to write a book to us experiencing trials than Peter? Peter, when he refers to himself in this passage of Scripture, he lets us know the significance of him as an individual as he writes this book to us. This isn’t just Jenny from the block, right? This is Peter, an apostle. He’s saying to us as people, listen, guys, we need to pay attention to the words that he’s sharing because he’s not just telling this, this story to us or he’s not writing the scriptures to us as a friend.
He’s sharing this advice to us as people, being in his authoritative position as an apostle. This is Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ. Answer just one simple question as we look at Peter’s authority in this passage of Scripture will. Alpine Bible Church ever have an apostle? Peter uses his authority and his position here in this passage of Scripture. But what about us? Right now we just have a pastor, right? We ever get to the place where Alpine Bible Church might have an apostle in our midst? The Bible tells us in Second Corinthians chapter 12 before, let me let me just back up before I read this passage to you. I just want to say, as I reflect on Peter’s authority as an apostle in this scripture, when it comes to positions and authority in our world, I have the utmost respect for people in any position. Um, for instance, let me give you an example. President of the United States. You will never hear me as a pastor or as a person, ever belittle the position of the president of the United States. Regardless of what I think about who the president is at that current time. I understand what Scripture gives me as an individual, as a responsibility to make the right choices in voting for the candidates who best represents what I think would be beneficial to our country and according to what I believe, when God supernaturally foresees this world in the governing of this world, the Bible tells us that God appoints all officials.
He knows who’s going to be in charge of what position long before we do as people. He knows all things and what he tells us is us to do in Romans chapter 13 is peoples, that when our officials are then elected, we pray for them. And so, out of respect for the position of authority, we don’t say anything belittling to those who hold any position of authority. And the reason I say that is because one such word that represents a position of authority is the position of apostle. And I’m not I’m not going to answer for any other belief out there in their positions of authority. I’m just going to answer for us as a church. Will we ever have this in our Bible Church’s history? Okay. In Jude chapter one and verse nine, in respect to authority, listen to this. Michael the Archangel, in knowing he fights for Jesus and he’s against evil. It says this he disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, but he did not dare pronounce judgment against Satan a railing judgment, but said, the Lord rebuked you. Even Michael the archangel respected the authority and positions of particular people, even Satan himself. And so as a church, that’s our position as well. Whenever someone of any position or authority comes around us, we respect the position that we don’t always have to agree with their stance.
And so while Alpine Bible Church ever had that type of leadership, let me just say this. Second Corinthians chapter 12 and verse 12 signifies for us what the look of an apostle should be according to the Bible. It says the signs of a true apostle were performed among you with all perseverance by signs and wonders and miracles. Meaning, if you ever find a biblical, biblically true apostle, you need to grab them and steal them and kidnap them and take them to a hospital, right? Or take them where people are truly suffering in life because the apostles have the ability to heal people in their needs. It was so powerful in Scripture that we read when Peter was walking through the streets, they would literally take the lame and the hurting and the sick and the weak, and they would line it up in the streets. And as Peter passed by, his shadow would heal the people that walked along the street. I will say this. And people who are representing Christ sometimes on television, you’ll see if you sow your seed of so many millions of dollars, things like this will happen to you. And I will let you know as a person, as a pastor who shepherds sheep, looks over our well-being. Um, don’t buy into that stuff, okay? Sometimes there’s the argument made that if you’re not healed, then your faith isn’t strong enough.
And and if we had enough faith and God would heal us from every ailment, and and we know all of us are going to die at some point. Um, and the truth of the matter is, when you read scripture, there was a lot of people who were dead brought back to life. What faith did they exercise has nothing to do with the faith of the individual, but the power of the person who holds a position. Jesus did it in Scripture. The apostles performed signs and miracles and wonders. They healed the blind and the lame and the weak and and it validated the message. These signs that the apostles used validated the message in which they were sharing with the church. Remember, at the time there was no New Testament. If you wanted to study something in your Bible that the Old Testament was all that was contained. It was rolled up in a scroll. And you may know somebody who might have a copy of it, but to have a piece of literature in your hand that was Scripture was difficult to come by. And the way that God validated his message was through these apostles doing these miraculous signs and wonders. So here’s Scripture goes on to further tell us that when you read in the early accounts of acts, you guys, my there we go. Acts chapter one and verse 20, when you read the history of the Gospels, you see Jesus betrayed.
Judas is the one who betrayed him. Shortly after Judas betrays Jesus, Judas takes his own life. And in chapter one of the book of Acts, Jesus ascends and the church now has to answer the question, well, now we only have 11 apostles and got elected. 12 what are we going to do to fill this vacant role of the 12th Apostle? And they began to answer that question, and they refer back to the Psalms, where it says prophetically that the apostle Judas would be replaced. And so it says in verse 20 of acts four, it is written in the book of Psalms, let his homestead be made desolate, and no, let no one dwell in it. It’s talking about Judas. That place is cursed, right? And let another man take his office, referring to his apostleship. Therefore, it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time, that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning with the baptism of John, until the day that he was taken up from us. One of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection. And so what the apostles are doing in this particular instance, they know prophetically this position was supposed to be fulfilled because the psalm said so. It doesn’t say it continues to be fulfilled, but it definitely gets filled this one time and they lay out the requirements.
Well, when we elect an apostle, what are the requirements for someone to become this position according to what the Bible says? And they tell us in order to be an apostle in this verse of Scripture, you had to have done ministry with Jesus, and you had to have been a part of the resurrection and seen the resurrection of Christ. Now today, for me as a person that I find physically impossible because we’re more than 2000 years since the time of Christ. And so they lay out the qualifications for an apostle in this portion of Scripture. Paul in Ephesians chapter two goes on and says, give me another clue. It says 219 so that you are no longer strangers and aliens, referring to the church, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone. Paul’s writing this portion of Scripture, and what he’s signifying for us is the position of what apostles and prophets represented throughout history. When you build a house, how many times do you lay a foundation? Once, while Paul is referring to here, is that that foundation has now been laid through the apostles and prophets. We don’t continue to lay a foundation that’s already been laid. We then build upon the foundation that’s there. And Paul is saying this passage of Scripture that the apostles and prophets did a wonderful job for us as a church in laying that foundation.
So much so that when the Apostle Paul went on his missionary journeys throughout the entire Roman world, that when he went to different towns and cities and started a church, he didn’t appoint apostles to lead the church. What he appointed was a term we refer to as elders in the Bible. If you want to research, you can look at this. If I give you a quick answer and I said, well, Alpine Bible Church, ever have an apostle? The answer is synthetically no. Okay. Well then the question becomes, well, who will lead the church? And the answer, according to the scripture, is elders. The Apostle Paul, when he went throughout the known world what he established in the churches to help govern and lead the churches were elders. Elders, according to scripture, were older men who led their families in a godly way. If you want to read the qualifications for that, it comes in Titus chapter one and in First Timothy, chapter three. And for Paul it says this. For this reason I left you in Crete, that you would set in order what remains and appoint elders in every city, as I have directed you. Good. Rishi, give me one more click. And the big challenge at the end to think about the idea of apostleship and whether or not you would want to hold that position in Alpine Bible Church, is to consider what happened to the apostles.
Biblical apostles. Paul records in first Corinthians four nine that people were going into the churches of which he had established, and proclaiming themselves to be an apostle. I want to be careful when you read Scripture to help clarify. When you see the word apostle, it doesn’t always mean the office of apostle. The word apostle in Greek literally means one sent forth. We would use the word missionary today. A missionary, an apostle is one that’s sent forth. When Stacey and I moved to Utah, people got together and they thought, you know what? It would be a great place to start a church. We should start one in Lehi. Who in the world would go? And Stacey and I said, we will write. And they and they looked at us and called us apostles or missionaries. We were sent forth in the world. That’s just a serving place. But the office of an apostle is an elected position. And Jesus chose 12 and there’s people going into the churches that Paul has established, and they’re saying to the church, I am an apostle. I am of that office in position. And Paul is saying, listen, these people are crazy. Let me tell you why. Verse nine, for I think God has exhibited us apostles, last of all, as men condemned to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world.
We’re fools, for Christ’s sake. But you are prudent in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are distinguished. But we are without honor to this present hour. We are both hungry and thirsty and are poorly clothed and are roughly treated and are homeless. Who signing up right, put me there and we toil working with our own hands. We were reviled. We bless. We were persecuted. We endure. We have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things. Even until now. Beautiful position put me there. But the point is, in respect to all positions of leadership everywhere. Us as a church family. Go ahead and click one more time for me, Richie. Peter refers to himself as an apostle of Jesus Christ. It’s a position that was special to that particular time. A position that could only be held as people saw the resurrected Christ in this world. It’s a position that we continue to respect of those who held it as we follow them biblically, as they proclaim God’s truth, they laid the foundation for us. But as a church, what Paul elected for the leadership of the church were elders. It’s not to say that God didn’t give us authority and position in all things to respect. The Bible tells us in former times Christ God spoke through the prophets, but today he speaks through us in Jesus.
In Hebrews one, in John 17, Jesus said, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth telling us. Not only do we follow Jesus, but we follow His Word. It holds to us and authority. The church helps encourage and govern us and guide us and direct us as the elders of the church. Help navigate the future of our church as we pursue Christ together. That is the authority of the church. Peter proclaims this position for us as people, so that we can stop in the midst of maybe even the trials and circumstances that we’re facing in our lives and saying, listen, Peter really wants us to pay attention to this. He’s not just writing this as just a friend. He’s writing this based out of his position in Christ. And so Peter begins to share with us. As we read on, it says to those who reside as aliens scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood. May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure. And understanding that he’s writing to a church that’s facing trials. I love the way that Peter begins this story at the end of chapter one, the very last word. You see it right before verse two. If you’re looking at a King James, this word is actually going to come in the beginning of verse two.
It’s going to say the word elect, which is a correct translation of the Greek term, which is eclectus. It means elect or chosen. It’s a beautiful word for us in Scripture, and I don’t want you to be confused if you’re reading King James today, and you see after verse two the word elect, if you read in the NASB the word chosen there, it doesn’t mean your Bible is messed up. In the 1500s, a guy went into history and he actually put chapters and verse numbers beside our scripture. That way we could find it much like an address to your home. The verses in the chapter divisions in your Bible aren’t inspired, believe it or not, someone added that 1500 years after your Bible was written, so that today when we study it, we can point to it and find it for us as people. And so he says to us, Peter, an apostle, what he’s writing to her are those who are chosen or those who are elect. What does that mean? What it means for us as people is that God is the one saving you. It’s not you saving yourself, it’s God pursuing after you. God has chosen you. God has elected you. So as we read throughout Scripture, we find that God is constant. God is never changing, but we as people are the ones that continue to flee from his presence and God’s desires for us to enjoy a relationship with him.
So when God created you, he created you with a free will. And then that free will you were given the decision of whether or not you would love him. But God knew with his foreknowledge. It tells us in verse two, according to the foreknowledge of the father. God knew that we would reject him. And God knew that he would have to send Jesus to save you. And so God became flesh to save you. God chose you while we as people walked away from him, from the time of the Garden of Eden, and even in our own sin today, God still chooses you. And that’s a beautiful word for us as people, because some of us were never chosen for anything. You can think on kickball as a kid on the playground. If your leg just wasn’t strong, you’re always last, or there’s too many people. You got to sit the bench. But yet God looks at you and he chooses you before time began. It tells us in the foreknowledge of God, God knew that you would reject him and God still chooses you. It’s a word of celebration to us. It’s a word that says to people in the midst of trials, as feeling as if they are lonely or by themselves that God has chosen you. God has placed his affections upon you.
And the way that he explains it to us, to blow our minds away is through the Trinity. He shows how the three being or the three persons in one being work together to culminate for our salvation as God chooses you. And so he says this according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. God knew that we would reject him, but God still chose to love. Maybe we look at the word foreknowledge. The question that comes to mind then is why then, would God create people who would reject him? Why would God create people who knew that they would reject him? Well, Second Peter three nine tells us this is an important basis to lay as we talk about. It tells us that God is long suffering towards us, not willing that any should perish, but all come to repentance. So the heart of God for us is people, even though we might reject him. The heart of God for us as people is that we would walk hand in hand in fellowship, enjoying our relationship with him. He’s not willing that any perish but all come to repentance. The reason that God created people who reject him is that he created people really ultimately with free will as the answer. God’s desire is that you would love him. God’s desire is that you would be in hand in hand with him. But God also wanted to create a being that had the ability to choose what it wanted to love or not love.
And so God has designed you with free will, whether you would reject him or accept him. And in creating us with free will, God doesn’t force anyone to love him. Often in Scripture we refer to to God as a gentleman. God doesn’t make anyone love him, but sets their affections upon them, desiring that they would return in love towards him and enjoy that relationship. We force a being created with free will, and we force it to love something that we shouldn’t do. You know what we ultimately call that to its fullest extent? Rape. The Bible tells us in your free will that God has created you, not with the want to force you to love him, but with the desire that you would love him according to his foreknowledge, he has chosen you. It says this in verse two. According to the foreknowledge of God the Father by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. Sanctifying means set apart. It means, really that your life changes. The Bible tells us that the moment we trust in God and we look to Jesus, and we accept Christ as our Savior, that the Spirit of God then comes in Shekinah within us. It dwells within you. You become the temple of God, and the Spirit of God now lives and resides in you as a human being.
Rather than find the need to go to any particular place to worship, you can worship exactly where you are because God’s presence is with you. The spirit, then it says in the Scripture sanctifies you or sets you apart. It means it changes your life. It it changes your heart. It it gives you a new desire. The Bible even says in Corinthians 517, it makes you a new creation. For those who’ve walked with Jesus for a while, remember for a moment don’t remember everything you did, but your former life before Christ has ever been a time in your life as a Christian where you’ve attempted to go back to that? Has there ever been a life where there was a sin that you couldn’t get rid of? You became a Christian, and all of a sudden that temptation maybe was still there, and you went and you did that sin in the way that you viewed that sin now, as opposed to the way you did it before you knew Jesus, you felt a lot worse for doing that. The Bible tells us it’s the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit working in you. God has changed the desires of your life through His Spirit. The father for knew that you would need salvation. He chose you, and he sent Jesus to this world for you. He set you apart with the spirit, and it tells us to obey Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with his blood.
In Scripture, the Bible represents blood as life. Leviticus 1711 literally says, there is life in the blood. Meaning in the Old Testament, when you would go to the temple and you would worship, you would take an animal to sacrifice and you would sacrifice that animal. And it was a very sobering moment, because you would see and witness as the blood would drip from this animal. So life would drain from his body. I know we talk about today. We come to church and this is Celebration Sunday. Our morning worships are all about celebration, which is good because Jesus has finally paid all of that debt. And we don’t have to sacrifice animals anymore, right? But can you imagine in the Old Testament, going to the temple to worship? Maybe even particularly around the time of the Passover, every family sacrificed an animal during the time of the Passover, blood would literally flow from the temple like a river. And when you walked that day into worship, it was the smell of blood and of death. And it was a reminder to us, as Romans 623 says, that the wages of sin is death. And they would look on the death of this animal as its substitution for them, as people, for their sins, awaiting one day for a messiah who would come and pay the ultimate sacrifice for our lives. And it refers to here as the sprinkling of blood.
Because when an animal in the temple was sacrificed, its blood was often sprinkled and sometimes upon the people to remind them that they had been covered through this animal. Their sins have been forgiven by God. And saying to us in this passage of Scripture, the way that God has chosen you is that Jesus has come to this earth and has an innocent, very sobering moment. He died upon this cross, and he shed his blood, and his blood is now covering your sins. And when God looks upon you, he sees the beauty of Jesus. Paul has an apostle in these moments, writes to a church experiencing trial. And he’s saying to us as people, because you have been chosen before creation even began. God put his affections on you. He knew he would reject you, would reject him. But he was still pursuing after you. He knew you were the last kid in the playground to get picked, but he set his affections toward you. So the scriptures go on to say, I’m going to go back to. You could stay just right here, Richie. You don’t have to change anymore. In verse one, look who he writes to. Those who reside as aliens scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. It’s a great job pronouncing those words who are chosen. You can laugh at that. That was funny, I like it. A couple of weeks ago we talked about vampires.
We quoted John 656, eat my blood or drink my blood and eat my flesh vampire verse in the Bible. And now we’re talking about aliens. And this has got to be like the nerdiest church ever. But it says it in Scripture. Those who reside as aliens scattered throughout Pontus and Galatia. He refers to them as aliens because of the sanctifying work of the spirit. I think in one way they’re aliens because they’ve been kicked out of their land time and time again. They continue to receive persecution and they run away from the persecution. And now they find themselves in a place they’re unfamiliar with. They’re aliens. But in another aspect, they’re spiritually aliens as well. Meaning, now that the Spirit of God has come into their life, he’s changed their heart and their ambition and their desires, things that they thought that they wanted to live for in this world they no longer desire. And they look at this world as if they’re aliens. They’re different. Once they desire to sin and now they desire to live for Christ. Once they desire to set their affections on things of this world, and now they desire to set their affections upon Jesus. The Bible is very frank with us in John 14. It tells us, Jesus says as he’s about to ascend into heaven, behold, I go to prepare a place for you, that where you, that where I may be, you may be also.
He’s saying to us, if you feel like this place isn’t your home, that’s good, because your home belongs in heaven and the affections of your life. Though the idea of where you set your attitude, your ambitions, and your goal is not for this world, but for heaven. And so he’s saying to this group, you guys are aliens. And Jesus is your king. One of the first things that we should learn when we become Christian is that our loyalty belongs now to Jesus. This would have been revolutionary for the people in Roman times. Caesar was taught as God to them. You gave your praise to Caesar, and now all of a sudden, this group of people is emerging from Jerusalem, and they’re no longer saying that that Caesar is their Lord. But now Jesus is their Lord. And we don’t take your type around here. Get lost. And so they became a scattered group. This was a group that received tremendous persecution in the towns that he lists Pontus and Galatia and Cappadocia. Asia and Bithynia today reside in modern day Turkey. And for me, when I read this passage of Scripture, it’s a very sad portion. You know what you find if you were to go to those cities today in Turkey? Nothing. I mean, you’ll find people, but you won’t find Jesus’s people. Today, Turkey is less than 2% Christian. You think about the trials that these people must be enduring, and the horrendous pressure that must be put upon them.
For Turkey to now be less than 2% Christian. Peter is looking at these people, and he understands that they’re in trial, and his desires for them to rejoice in the midst of their persecution. Yes, they are aliens, and yes, they’re being scattered, but their commitment to Christ is all the more important. The Bible is open to us and allowing us to recognize as people that when we partner with Jesus and we give our lives to him, that we make war against this world, not in a physical sense. We don’t go into this world and we fight people. We argue with them. That’s that’s a very ungodly thing to do. But the apostle Paul wrote in the book of Ephesians, at the very end, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers. This this spiritual world is at war with this physical world. And if you partner with Jesus, it’s at war with you as well. These people became Jesus followers, and in so doing they also became outcasts and consider the trials for just a moment of what they would be going through to follow Jesus at this particular time in which Peter’s writing, Peter’s likely writing from prison or near prison. Peter’s almost to the end of his life, which is going to be taken for following after Jesus.
There is tremendous persecution on this church. And I got to say, at the very least, when people begin to say Caesar is no longer Lord, but Jesus is Lord, that many of them began to lose their jobs when they refused to celebrate the pagan holidays of the lifestyles around them and begin to celebrate Christian holidays. They were rejected by family and friends. Really, in a sense, they lost the life that they knew that they had and they began to experience persecution. And I think about the persecution that could happen in our lives, that we were experiencing those same trials. I think I don’t want to undermine those who have died for Jesus, but it’s much easier to die for Christ at times than it is to live for Christ. The constant badgering of a life of a person who follows Jesus can really begin to rob you of your joy and that relationship with Christ. I think Paul knows this. I think we know this. Following after Jesus. If it doesn’t make you an alien, sometimes it just makes you a freak. Here’s how I know. You ever had that changing experience with Christ in your life, where you knew your heart was just committed to him, and you were so excited about it, and you wanted to go out and just shout it to the world. Have you ever tried that? Could you imagine today if you went home and you just said you went out on your patio and said, I follow Jesus, just screaming it out loud, and then people blow you and be like, okay, what are you talking about? You’re a freak, man.
That’s weird. Jesus. Excuse me, Peter, saying the same thing to the church in this passage of scripture, you guys are scattered aliens and you feel like aliens because this isn’t your home and you live like aliens because your affections are placed towards Christ. Because now, rather than any other, Lord Jesus has become your Lord. And the answer to that is, and it’s not always easy. The Bible doesn’t soft sell following Jesus for us in our lives. It tells us in John 1633, there will be trials in this world. Doesn’t make everything peaches and roses when Jesus comes your way. In fact, sometimes in most cases, a lot of times he gets more difficult. How does that said, if I were a salesman today, I would be losing. And so he writes this in verse three. I like how he starts. Blessed be the God and Father in times of trial. He turns to a word of worship. Blessed in the midst of scattered aliens. He just says, guys, just stop in your experience right now and just bless the Lord and worship. I can think of how this verse must have been written and Peter’s pen as he scrolled across the page. His life was definitely one of trials, and I got to say, for the life of Peter, man, he sure did get it wrong a lot of times before he finally got it right.
He was the one in Scripture where you always read about him, and it makes you feel good about yourself, right? He’s always spitting off at the mouth, saying something. He regrets having to retract it later, getting somebody angry at him. Peter was that individual. And when you study his life, he was not the one that I would look at out of Jesus’s 12 apostles and say, okay, Jesus, when you go, make him the head of your church because he’s got it all together. In fact, he was the exact opposite. In one instance, Jesus was referred to Peter as as the rock, and upon the rock of his confession, he would build his church. He said. And then when you read the very next verse in Matthew, Jesus then calls Peter Satan. He says, get thee behind me, Satan, for being disobedient in his faith. You read about the life of Peter and you see the transfiguration, Jesus being betrayed by Judas. As the guards come to grab Jesus, Peter pulls out a sword and starts lopping off ears. Way to love Peter. When Jesus was on trial, Peter had just said to Jesus, Jesus, there’s no way I’m ever going to deny you. Jesus says, yeah, right. Jesus goes on trial and Peter follows Jesus’s trial.
And when people come up to him and confront him, you’re a follower of Jesus, aren’t you? He says, no, I’m not a follower of him. At the very end. Finally, the third time an individual comes to him and it tells us in Scripture it’s a little high school girl and she says, aren’t you a follower of Jesus? And Peter gets frustrated and the Bible says he literally starts cussing and he runs away angry. I’m not a follower of Jesus. And the story goes, he hears the rooster crow and he realizes he rejected Christ in the midst of trial. Peter was not always a faithful follower, even to the point when Peter’s leading the early church. It tells us in Galatians chapter two that Peter falls into a false belief, and the apostle Paul has to confront him to his face before his fellow friends. Peter’s problem was the same issue that the church is facing here, and the same issue that we can face in our own trials, and that is Peter feared men above God. And so in his old age, he finally writes to us and a life of experience and a life that hasn’t always done the right thing in the midst of trials. And he says, guys, bless God. Worship. Bless the God and the father of our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his great mercy has caused us to be born again.
We’re born again, for us is a word that has as much to do with living as it does dying. We talk about salvation in Christ. There’s a process that happens within us instantly. At the moment we come before Jesus and we lay our lives down to him. We we die to our old self and we live to a new self. And from the inside out. God makes us new. And so Peter is saying to us, listen guys, we need to worship because what God has done in your world is so miraculous. You’ve been born again. And the way that we’ve been born again is to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. God has given you a living hope. And by living, it means. I hope that does not disappoint. These Christians have lived their lives in utter disappointment. But the reminder to Peter is that there is a greater hope for which they live. For as long as you have hope, you have something worth living for. You think, as in the medical world, people who are faced with physical ailments that could be life ending. For instance, a cancer patient. The doctors will often say when it comes to fighting the disease of cancer, the moment that the patient loses hope, they’ll lose their life. There’s something about hope that spurs us to life. There’s something about hope that gets us to wake up and live for tomorrow.
And the moment that we lose that hope. The moment, that moment we stop really living. And Peter saying to this church, listen, guys, the reason that you’re not as excited about your relationship with Christ is that you’ve forgotten. The most important thing is Jesus is your hope In the midst of the storm, we tend so much to focus on the storm that we need to remind ourselves that it’s more than just the storm and all storms pass, but Jesus is the hope. Amen. I like my great grandma. She. We should have a clever name for her because I’m from West Virginia. We have weird names for grandparents, but it was just great grandma. And she would always share the same thing I can remember as a little kid, 6 or 7 years old. I think she only had one phrase that she ever spoke, but her grandchildren and her kids would come in and every once in a while upset about life, and they would just share with her. And, and great grandma would do a great job of just listening to what they were complaining about. And then she would always give the same advice at the end, and it would always comfort them. It was great. She would say, and this too shall pass. And then she would fall asleep. Well, you know, that’s what Peter is saying here. It’s just a storm.
If we looked at the the blip of life on earth and scope of eternity, it’s just a storm. We get so fixated upon that storm that we forget we’re chosen. God has chosen you. Last kid on the playground. And God has set his affections towards you. And now you may experience trials in this world, but God has given you something so much greater than what this world can even begin to offer, and that is a living hope that will never die. So here’s the conclusion. Every trial we face in our life is an opportunity. I like how Winston Churchill put it. He said, these are not dark days. These are great days. For no matter how dark the day may be, the greater your light may shine for Christ. And he’s saying, in the midst of even the darkest circumstances, Jesus can look more beautiful. How great for us as people to begin to point that light towards Christ. All of life is an opportunity indicating the glory of Jesus. And some of us look at the midst of this trial, and we realize in our lives we have maybe even compromised. And just like Peter, we have craved the affections of men rather than the glory of God in our lives. And I can even think this morning, some of us here are dangerously close thinking, you know, I don’t know if I can follow Jesus all of my life.
I like the way that God’s grace continued to intervene in the life of Peter. Peter messed up. Jesus showed up. Peter messed up. Jesus showed up. Peter messed up. Jesus showed up. Peter writes the book of first and second Peter, and then history tells us. Shortly after writing Second Peter, he loses his life. But the glorious thing about Peter when he lost his life is that Peter was going to be crucified. And rather than being crucified, the typical way, Peter gave a specific request to his executioners that they would crucify him upside down. When they began to ponder about such a crazy request. Why in the world would Peter want to be crucified upside down? He said he was unworthy to die in the same manner for which his Savior died. And even in death, I could imagine that moment when you’re watching. It takes a couple of days, typically for someone to die on the cross. Assuming upside down would be the same when people would walk by that cross and see that guy hanging upside down and begin to inquire, why in the world is this guy upside down? Peter could even talk from the cross and say, because it’s all about Jesus. In the midst of darkness. Peter continued to live for a greater hope. We live in a world that rejects us because of Jesus. We need reminded that our hope is different. You are not only a vampire, you’re an alien. You have a hope that will not fade because God has chosen you. Let’s pray.