Open your Bibles, if you would,
to 1 Peter 2. We'll continue our study in 1
Peter 2. This wonderful book that we've
been studying, 1 Peter. Today's message is called, Strangers
and Pilgrims. Strangers and Pilgrims. We'll
read from verse 6 to verse 12. And then we'll read verses 12
later on in the message, or 10 to 12. reading and including
verse 10, which we looked at last week to get the context
again of verses 11 and 12. Wherefore also it is contained
in the scripture, behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone,
elect, precious, and he that believeth on him shall not be
confounded. Verse six, this speaks of Christ. Unto you therefore
which believe, he is precious. So he's precious to the believer,
but here's the contrast. But unto them which be disobedient,
the stone which the builders disallowed, The same is made
the head of the corner, and the stone of stumbling, and the rock
of offense, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,
whereunto also they were appointed. But ye, writing to God's people,
are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation,
a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him
who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. which
in times past were not a people, but now the people of God, which
had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved,
I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshy
lusts which war against the soul, having your conversation honest
among the Gentiles, that whereas they speak against you as evildoers,
they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify
God in the day of visitation. So last week we looked at verses
nine and 10 of this wonderful chapter, and we saw that we who
are the people of God are a chosen generation. That each one of
us is chosen out of our generation to be recipients of the grace
of God. And we know that that choice was made in eternity by
God. And it leaves us in awe. It leaves us in awe. We're a
chosen generation. Each child of God is an object
of God's mercy. Every single child of God is
an object of God's mercy. It's wonderful. It's absolutely
wonderful. Chosen in eternity. And this
truth again is marvelous to the believer. We are also a royal
priesthood, and we know that this is in Christ, and we're
a holy nation, and we know that we are only holy, and we are
only a royal priesthood in Christ, in Christ alone. We are sanctified,
Scripture says, in Him, which means to be made holy, to be
set apart. We looked at how we're a peculiar people, and we saw
how God how the Greek word for peculiar spoke of a purchased
possession, a purchased possession. We are a special people, not
in ourselves, not in ourselves, but only because God has chosen
us and purchased us with his own precious blood, the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the God man. Then we consider how
we are chosen, redeemed, forgiven, that we should show forth the
praises of he who called us out of darkness. And it's all by
His power. He's called us out of darkness
into the marvelous light of Christ. We've been called out of the
darkness of our sin, called out of the darkness of our works,
which we tried to justify ourselves by when we've been called by
God himself. And it's an effectual call. Then
we considered how the text in verse 10, which says, we're not
a people, but are now the people of God and how that in our minds,
we had enmity with God in our minds and by our wicked works.
We've always been the sheep of God, but in our minds, we were
enemies with God. In our natural state, we were
enemies with God by wicked works. And then lastly, we considered
how we've obtained mercy and we have obtained great mercy
in Christ. And it comes from our great God,
from our great God. So I'd like us, again, to consider
the context, again, of this book. The saints are experiencing manifold
temptations. Turn, if you would, over to chapter
1. They're experiencing manifold temptations, the context of this
book. Their faith is being tried. It's
being tried. And for some, it's being tried
to death. For some, it's being tried to death. They're being
persecuted for what they believe. Look at verses 6 and 7 of chapter
1. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need
be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations, which is
trials, that the trial of your faith, being much more precious
than of gold, that perishes, though it be tried with fire,
might be found under praise and honor and glory at the appearing
of Jesus Christ. So these saints were, they were
going through it, beloved. They were being tried for what
they believed. They were going through trials and tribulation.
Some would have been Jews and thus they were strangers then
in a strange land. Because it says in verse 1, they
were in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. This is outside
of Israel. So they were strangers in a strange
land, beloved. They were strangers in a strange
land. They would be considered aliens
in these regions here. And they were somewhat of being
ostracized by their own families back in Israel when they converted
to Christianity. And they would be banned from
the synagogue. If there was a synagogue in the area, they'd be banned
from that. They wouldn't be allowed to go
there. And they would gather together to worship. And what
a comfort this letter would be to them. to those who are going
through these situations. So with that in mind, let us
read verses 10 to 12, which in times past were not a people,
but now the people of God. which had not obtained mercy
but now have obtained mercy. Dearly beloved, I beseech you
as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshy lusts which war against
the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that
whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may be your
good works which they shall behold. Glorify God in the day of visitation. Now, when looking at the scriptures
in each passage, we should keep two things in mind. What is the
subject that the author has in view with the whole book and
even with the context of the scriptures that we're looking
at? And what is the object he has in view in dealing with the
subject? Now note the subject he's plainly dealing with in
this book, turn if you would again over to chapter one, is
the final deliverance and complete joy which Christians are to obtain
at the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, even though the
saints are now currently going through trials and tribulations.
They are secure and safe in Christ and they will be delivered. They
will be delivered and they will have great joy at the second
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ or when Christ comes for them
at their death. Look at verses three to five
in chapter one. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again into a lively hope. And what a lively hope
we have by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, because
he lives, we live. Oh, what a hope we have. To an
inheritance incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not
away reserved in heaven for you. So he's pointing them, he's pointing
them to when they're going to be in glory. when all these trials
and all these tribulations will be finished. And they have an
inheritance. Even though they're going through
all these things, they have an inheritance that's incorruptible,
undefiled. It can't be taken away, beloved. It's fated not away. It's reserved
in heaven for you. Just like when you call a restaurant.
I remember hearing Henry use this analogy a lot. When you
call a restaurant and you reserve a table, that table is set there
for you. No one else can sit there. It's
reserved. Beloved, our inheritance is reserved
for us in glory. It's reserved for us. And then
look at this marvelous verse and what comfort this would bring
God's people as they're going through trials and tribulations
who are kept by the power of God through faith and the salvation
ready to be revealed at the last time. So let us always remember
the only reason we keep on keeping on is because we're kept by the
power of God. We're kept by the power of God.
Now Peter keeps before these suffering saints these precious
truths reminding them that it is God who has saved them And
it's God who will keep them by his power. And we ought not to
let this lead to fatalism, saying, well, then I can do whatever
I want to do. No, no, we don't. We don't. We don't say that,
do we? No, as believers, we don't say that at all. That's just
rank antinomianism. Look at we're exhorted in. In
chapter two, look at verses one to three. We're exhorted to lay
aside the works of the flesh, which ties right in with today's
verses. Wherefore, laying aside all malice
and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil speakings,
as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word, that she may
grow thereby. If so be that she have tasted
that the Lord is gracious. So the apostle is bringing forth
in this subject that he desires to encourage God's people and
by God's grace strengthen their hearts and minds to the Christians
to whom he's writing to, the suffering saints amid these manifold
trials which they've been exposed to. And it's all by the sovereign
grace of God. It's all by his providence that
they're going through these things. So Peter is setting their mind
upon Christ, setting their mind upon He who is absolutely sovereign. He's writing to them to remain
steadfast and immovable in the profession of their faith and
in the practice of their duties of their high and holy calling.
And he brings forth the certainty of this final salvation in Christ
alone that they might be encouraged to gird up the loins of their
minds and be sober and hope to the end. that they might fashion
themselves as obedient children and be holy in all manner of
conversation as he has called them as holy. Look at verse 11,
dearly beloved, I besiege you as strangers and pilgrims abstain
from fleshy lusts, which war against the soul. So note here
in verse 11, first of all, Peter calls them dearly beloved. dearly
beloved. Now this speaks, one commentator
brought this forth, this speaks of God's love for them from eternity.
They are dearly beloved. You who are redeemed are dearly
beloved. Your love from eternity. You're
the bride of Christ. And God's love for his people
is an eternal love. Therefore, Peter brings this
forth to these suffering saints that they are dearly beloved,
dearly beloved. And this can also reflect the
love that Peter has for the saints as well. One of the marks of
a true believer, Brother Matt and I were looking at this this
week, and it was wonderful. One of the marks of a true believer
is that they love all believers, not just a few. Not just the
ones they always get along with. No, we love all believers. We
love all of God's people, all of them. All of them, and it's
wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. We
have love for the brethren. And note it's a personal exhortation
here because Peter is one of the apostles and he writes here
now, I beseech you. So one of the apostles of the
Lord is now personally writing them and exhorting them. And
what he's going to write to them comes from a sincere love that
he has for them. A sincere affection that he has
for God's people. And he desires that which is
good for them. And note, also, he does not do this in an authoritative
way. Now, he has authority as an apostle,
doesn't he? He has authority as an apostle.
But you note, he doesn't write in an authoritarian way. He's not condemning. Dearly beloved,
I beseech you. as strangers and pilgrims abstain
from fleshy lusts which war against the soul. He's moved by his love
for them. He's moved by his love for them.
And the fact that they are the beloved of God, he writes to
them out of affection for them. And he brings forth this exhortation. In this small statement here
before us, and note he calls them, next he calls them strangers
and pilgrims. Dearly beloved, I beseech you
as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshy lusts which war against
the soul. He brings forth before them that
they are strangers in this world. You and I who believe, we who
are the redeemed of the Lord are strangers in this world.
We're strangers in this world. This world is an unfriendly world
to God's people. And Peter's writing here that
they're different from the people all around them. They're pilgrims. Turn, if you would, to Hebrews
chapter 11. They're pilgrims, beloved. They seek a better country. I ask you who believe, do you
seek a better country? We've heard good news from a
far country, haven't we? We have. We've heard good news
from a far country. And we're strangers and pilgrims
in this world, beloved. We're strangers and pilgrims
in this world. We seek a better country. Over in the Hall of
Faith in Hebrews 11, it's said of God's people in verses 13
and 14, these all died in faith, not having received the promises,
but having seen them afar off, and they were persuaded of them
and embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth. For they that say such things
declare plainly that they seek a country. Oh, beloved, we seek
a better country. We seek a better country. Now,
the figure of stranger can be applied to the child of God.
Here on earth, it's a very relevant and full picture. I'm going to
read to you a few points here, and I'll give you the scriptures
if you want to write them down. But I'm going to, for time constraint,
I'm going to just read the scriptures, but I'll give you the address
of them. Consider the analogies between one who is in a foreign
country and the Christian in this world. The stranger in the
strange land is one who is appreciated for his birth, but is sometimes
persecuted. John 15, 19, the scriptures declare
this, if ye were of the world, the world would love his own,
but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you
out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. For a stranger in another country,
the habits, ways, languages, the language are strange to him.
And think of this in light of the Christian in this world.
And listen to 1 Peter 4, where it declares this, whereunto they
think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess
of riot, speaking evil of you. We don't do the things. We don't
follow along with the things of the world. For the stranger in another country
has to be content with the stranger's fare. Think of this light This
in light of the Christian in this world, and we're told in
scripture in 1 Timothy 6, 8, in heaven, food and raiment,
let us there with be content. So the stranger in a strange
land has to be content with what he has. The stranger in another
country has to be careful not to give offense to the government.
In Colossians 4, 5, we are told walk in wisdom toward them that
are without redeeming time. The stranger in another country
has to continually ask his way because they have to learn where
things are. Now, the people who live there
know where the things are in their region, right? They know.
I remember when I first went to Oregon, and even when we first
came here, it took us a long time to figure out where things
were. We're still learning. But you all know where things
are. If I ask you for something, oh, it's just down there. So
for the stranger in another country, he has to continually ask his
way. Have to learn before where things are. And believers in
this world, we cry out to our God, just as in Psalm 5.8 says,
lead me, O Lord, in thy righteousness because of mine enemies. Make
thy way straight before my face. Lord, guide me, direct me. If
he doesn't, we're off wandering, aren't we? For the stranger in
another country, unless he conforms to the ways of the foreign country,
he's easily identified. And God's people are identified
by our speech. We speak the things of Christ,
not the things of this world. In Matthew 26, 73, Peter was
identified by his speech. And after a while came unto him
they that stood by and said to Peter, surely thou also art one
of them, for thy speech betrayeth thee. For a stranger in another country,
he's often struck with homesickness. He's often struck with homesickness.
I remember when I first moved here and moved away, moved to
Oregon and moved away from my family in Canada. I'm so thankful
I'm closer now. But for those first few years,
I was so homesick. Even though I was with my beloved,
I was still homesick for my family that was all back in Canada.
It was hard. It was hard. Well, for the believer,
we're strangers in pilgrims in this world, and we're often struck
with homesickness, aren't we? We desire to be home with the
Lord, don't we? Oh my, we do. In Philippians 1.23, it says,
For I am in a strait betwixt two, having desired to depart
and be with Christ, which is far better. all went through
the same thing. And now look in verse 11, Peter
now next brings up, after he's told them that they were strangers
and pilgrims, now he brings up the civil war that's within every
believer. He says this, dearly beloved,
O beloved of God, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain
from fleshy lusts which war against the soul. So Peter here brings forth the
civil war that Paul wrote about in Romans chapter seven, right?
Which is the civil war within the believer. We struggle with
sin all the time, don't we? The flesh wars, wars against
the spirit. Abstain from fleshy lust. Every
believer is still a human living in a natural body. We're born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, but we're living in this natural
body, this body of flesh. And it wars against the Spirit. It wars against the Spirit. His
natural body is subject to the desires of the flesh and the
body. And Peter did not expect us to be totally free from these
motions of sin, just as Paul wrote in Romans 7, the war, the
struggle that the believer has. But remember what Paul wrote
in Romans 8, verse 1, there is therefore now no condemnation
to those who are in Christ. This is wonderful. Even though
we battle and we go through all these things with this flesh
that we have, there is no condemnation. That means there's no judgment.
There's not going to be a TV screen like some folks believe
and you're going to be judged for everything you've done. Praise
God, all my sins have been judged at Calvary's cross. Every one
of them. And yours too if you're a believer.
Isn't it wonderful? Oh my, it's absolutely wonderful. We are free in Christ. But Peter,
again, did not expect us to be totally free from the motions
of sin, but he tells us to abstain, which literally means this in
the Greek, continue to hold yourself back from. And that's what we
do, isn't it? The love of Christ constrains
us, doesn't it? Yeah. If the love of Christ didn't
constrain us, we'd be off just like everybody else. Because
we know that. We know what we are. But we have
a battle within us. We have a civil war within us,
don't we? The spirit battles with the flesh. So it literally means, continue
to hold yourself back from, from fleshy lusts, which we are to
suppress and refuse to give into them, for they are enemies. Now,
what are the enemies? They're enemies to spiritual
peace, beloved. They disrupt our peace. Even though our peace
with God never changes because it's based upon Christ, but in
ourselves, does it not bother us when we're in sin? It does,
doesn't it? It does. So it disrupts our spiritual
peace and our comfort and our growth too, beloved. But they
cannot, these things, these cannot destroy the soul. But they can
cause us much discomfort and unrest in this world and sorrow. Some of the fleshy less here
are pride, Anger. Jealousy. Covetousness. Envy. Gossip. Murmuring. And overindulgence
in all things. And we fight them. We fight those
things. We fight those things. Oh my. Lord give us strength. Give us
strength. Our text continues in verse 12
now. Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that
whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your
good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day
of visitation. Now conversation there in the
Greek means a manner of life, conduct, behavior. It's not our
speech to one another. It's a conduct. It's our manner
of life. It's our behavior. We are to
conduct ourselves as believers before our family, our fellow
workers, our neighbors, our friends, in an honest, righteous, and
loving manner, so that even though they speak of us as fanatics,
and they do, and radicals, and hypocrites, they say all these
things, and yet, when real trial and examination is put upon you,
when God visits them, or visits you and them with affliction
and trouble, they have to admit that there's something different
about you. And we know what it is. It's not us, is it? It's
God keeping us. It's Christ holding on to us. We're kept by the power of God.
See, because our hope is Christ and Christ alone, right? And
therefore, through all the trials and tribulations of life, it's
Him who's keeping us. And trust me, people notice.
Your folks will notice. They might not say it to you,
but they notice. They notice. They notice. I had someone a long time ago
say to me, years after the situation, I don't know how you how you
did that. And I said, well, it was by the grace of God. You
just give the glory to the Lord because, you know, it's him that
kept you. It's him that kept you. So people notice. They notice. And sometimes it leads to them
asking questions about the hope that lies within us. Turn if
you would to Romans chapter 12. Romans chapter 12. Paul wrote
this over in Romans 12 and it ties in with the scripture here
before us. In Romans chapter 12 verses 17 to 21. And again, it ties into the scripture
here, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that
whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your
good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day
of visitation. Look at this in Romans chapter
12, verses 17 to 21. Recompense to no man evil for
evil. So if man treats you evilly, you're not to recompense evil
back to him. Provide things honest in the sight of all men. If it
is possible, as much lieth in you, live peaceably with all
men. So what do we do when someone acts evilly against us? We pray
for them, don't we? We pray for them. We lift them
up. We're not the recompense evil for evil. Now that's a natural
thing though, isn't it? When someone gets us mad, oh
my. It's natural, but we gotta battle against that, don't we?
Because that's the flesh. That's the flesh, beloved. If
it is possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all
men. Dearly beloved, now look at this verse here in verse 19.
Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath,
for it is written, vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith
the Lord. That's a chilling verse. Oh my,
the Lord will repay. My, and think of those who persecute
us and those who call us evil or call us things
that are not true and they die in their sins. Vengeance is mine. I will repay, saith the Lord.
My, therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst,
give him drink. For in doing so thou shalt heap
coals of fire on his head. Paul and I were talking about
that on Wednesday night, and this is amazing. Again, you don't render evil
for evil. By your kindness, you're heaping coals of fire on their
head. Be not overcome of evil, but
overcome evil with good. Isn't this not the opposite of
the world? It's the complete opposite of
the world, which says if you get me, I'm gonna get you right
back. No, not for the believer. We have been forgiven so much,
beloved, so much. Someone does something to you
that you don't agree with. Pray for them. Pray for them.
Just lift them up in prayer. Let's go back to our text in
verse 12. It says, having your conversation.
And we'll read it in light of what we just read there in Romans
chapter 12. Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord,
and we are to recompense to no man evil for evil. Now look what
it says here again. And think of it too, think of
it. These saints are going through it, beloved. They are going through
it. They are being persecuted and
they are being called all kinds of things. I was reading some
of the things that they accused them of. And it's horrendous. We'll look at it right after
this, but it's horrendous what they were accusing them of. Some of the early church writers
wrote about these things and it's shocking. Look at this,
having your conversation honest among the Gentiles, that whereas
they speak against you as evildoers, that you may by your good works,
which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Brother Mahan brings out, sometimes God visits us in prosperity,
sometimes in disappointment, sometimes in joy, sometimes in
sorrow. How you conduct yourselves under
different tests will determine whether those who observe you
glorify God or laugh at your profession. That was pretty sobering
when he wrote that. That's pretty sobering. Now the Gentiles who live with
the Christians, Peter here writes to, were spoken against as evil
doers. And they were misrepresented
as monsters, basically, of monsters of wickedness. They were saying
that at their services they offered up babies and killed babies. It's awful. Some of the things
that they were accused of. They were accused of wicked sin. They were accused of being cannibals. They were accused of being magicians. And this was done, you know why
this was done? Because they were seen as a threat
to the Gentile false gods in their worship. And so they were
called all kinds of evil things by the religious and by the pagans. And so Peter tells them here
to walk in the ways of Christ, that no one would even speak
of the probability of those misrepresentations. That they couldn't be accused
of those things. that they were false. So Peter
brings forth also, look in our text here, the day of visitation. Having your conversation honest
among the Gentiles that whereas they speak against you as evil
doers, they may by your good works which they shall behold
glorify God in the day of visitation. Now the day of visitation here
is plainly the day of God's visitation. Turn if you would to Isaiah chapter
10 and then put your finger in Luke chapter 1. Isaiah chapter
10. in Luke chapter 1. God is said
to visit men when He gives very decided proofs of His presence
and power and these can either be in works of judgment or in
works of mercy. In works of judgment or in works
of mercy. The phrase is used in the first
sense in the following passage in Isaiah 10.3 And what will
you do in the day of visitation and in the desolation which shall
come from far? To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your glory? So, this is in the sense
of judgment. Where will they go? Where will
the wicked go in the day of visitation? We know that when the Lord comes
back, they're going to even cry for the mountains to fall upon
them. My. Then look over in in Luke
chapter one here, it's spoken of is in mercy. The day of God's
visitation is spoken of in mercy, and this is beloved. We have
received mercy from our great God. Mercy. Remember our text
before this section, it says we have obtained mercy. Oh, my. Look at Luke one, 68 and 69,
blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed
his people, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us in
the house of his servant David. God himself left the glories
of heaven and became a man and redeemed his people on Calvary's
cross. God himself hath raised up a
horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And brethren, we are not exhorted
here today just as the saints of old, the saints to whom this
letter was written to, are we not just as exhorted here today
as they are, as they were? We are exhorted to abstain from
fleshy lusts which war against the spirit within us. We who
believe our pilgrims and strangers upon this earth, just as the
saints that went before us, we are to hold fast our profession
of faith, aren't we? Plainly declaring that we are
seeking a country, a better country. We seek to be with our Lord,
don't we? We look forward to it with anticipation. We're homesick for glory. We're
homesick for heaven only because Christ is there. Only because
Christ is there. Oh, my. We seek a better country, that's
a heavenly country where our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
dwells, and we are confident that he who has begun a good
work in us will finish it. Here, take us home, beloved.
Here, take us home. It's not based upon anything
we do. So let us, as pilgrims on this earth and citizens of
heaven, set our affections on things above, not on things on
the earth. Let us seek the things that are
above at the right hand of God, and let us mortify our members
that are on the earth. Let us crucify the flesh with
the affections and lusts, and may God give us strength to repress
all the desires which war against the soul. And let we who are
redeemed cherish our saints. Let us cherish our Savior. Let
us encourage one another. Let us encourage one another.
Let us pray for one another as we journey through this world
as strangers and pilgrims who are seeking a better country.