Starting in 1 Peter, our new
Sunday school lessons will be here. And let's read verses 1 to 5. And the name of the message is,
Strangers Scattered. Strangers scattered, we might
not get through everything. But let's go to Lord in prayer
and ask His blessing upon the service. Gracious Heavenly Father,
we thank Thee for Your mercy and grace and goodness to us. Lord Jesus, as we look through
this precious book and we will see that each chapter speaks
about the suffering of the saint. Oh Lord, comfort us as we go
through this world. And as we leave this place today
and we enter into the world, the mission field before us out
there, and the world of trouble and woe and tribulation and trials,
give us strength, we pray. We pray that this book study
will strengthen us, that you will give us grace in our time
of need. We love Thee and we praise Thee,
and we seek to glorify Thee in all things. In Jesus' name, amen.
Strangers scattered. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia,
Asia, and Bithynia. Elect, according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience
and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ. Grace unto you,
and peace be multiplied. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy
hath begotten us again into a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled,
and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept
by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed
in the last time. So today I'd like us to start
a study here of 1 Peter. And this book has much instruction
for the believer in Christ. And it will bring great comfort
to our souls as we study this wonderful book. And studying
the Word of God is very exciting to the believer. It's very exciting
to us. Very exciting to God's blood-bought
saints. Those who have been regenerated,
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, enlightened by God the
Holy Spirit. We love God's Word. We love the
Bible. We love it. It's a blessing for
us. From cover to cover. from cover
to cover. It speaks to our hearts. It's
His story. It's a love letter from God Himself
to His people. It really is. To His chosen,
blood-bought children. Now we're reading words here
written from men who walk with God, too, in the New Testament.
We're reading words from men who walk with God, who were taught
of God. The Old Testament prophets, we
know, were moved by God. They were moved by God, the Holy
Spirit, and they spoke, and as they wrote the Holy Scriptures.
And the New Testament writers, some of them walk with God. They
walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. They were personally taught by
Him. Turn, if you would, to 1 John. 1 John. Chapter 1. And look at verses 1 to 4. They were personally taught by
the Lord Jesus Christ, and we know Peter's one of them, and
we know John's one of them. That which was from the beginning,
which we have heard, they heard his words, which we have seen
with our eyes, they beheld him, they beheld the Savior. which
we have looked upon, and our hands have handled the word of
life. Now remember, the one who's writing this is the very one
who laid his head upon the bosom of Christ. For the life was manifested,
and we have seen it, and bear witness, and show unto you that
eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested
unto us. That which we have seen and heard,
declare we unto you. They declare that which they've
seen, Christ. They declare that which they
heard, the words of Christ. That ye also may have fellowship
with us. And truly our fellowship is with
the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. And these things
we write unto you, that your joy may be full. that your joy
may be full. We go through this world of trials
and tribulations, and John writes this epistle that our joy may
be full. Turn, if you would, to 2 Peter.
2 Peter, verses 16 to 21. We read this over in 2 Peter.
Again, Peter is one who walked with the Lord, who heard the
Lord. Look at verse 16, for we have
not followed commonly devised fables when we made known unto
you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses
of his majesty. They were eyewitnesses of him,
of his majesty. Now remember, Peter's one of
the ones who was on the Mount of Transfiguration. He's eyewitness
to the majesty of Christ, to who he is. For he received from
God the Father honor and glory when there came such a voice
to him from the excellent glory. This is my beloved Son in whom
I am well pleased. God's only pleased in Christ.
He's not pleased with us. He's pleased with us in Christ.
But in our sinful nature and who we are, God's not pleased
with any sinner that way, is he? But he's pleased with us
in Christ. Praise be to God. And this voice,
which came from heaven, we heard when we were with him in the
Holy Mount. Now he's speaking of his time at the Mount of Transfiguration. We also have a more sure word
of prophecy, where unto you do well that you take heed. Is unto
a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn and
the day star arise in your hearts, knowing this first, that no prophecy
of scriptures of any private interpretation. where the prophecy
came not in old time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost." The Old Testament writers
spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. They wrote as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost. Our wonderful Lord and Savior
not only moved the men of the Old and New Testament to write
the Holy Scriptures, He knew when His saints would assemble
together and worship and praise Him in the study of His Word. and to speak to one another concerning
his gospel. Therefore, the gospel truth.
Therefore, we ought not to forsake the assembling of the church.
We need we need to hear the gospel. I need to hear the gospel. Brother
Joe wrote an excellent article about that. So this morning,
I'm going to probably put it in next week's bulletin about
how we need to hear the gospel. Those who forsake the assembly
don't feel a need. That's a bad place to be. That's
a horrible place to be. So we come and we assemble because
because we need to hear the gospel. And let's bring this right down
to where we are, the believer in Christ is left in awe when
he or she thinks that God that God included me, that I'm one
of these spoken of the elect. That I'm one of those numbers
that he calls the elect. In that same number of believers,
Peter's right in 2.2 here. Does this not cause our heart
to burn within us? To think that I am one of them?
That I'm one of the strangers who's scattered? One of the elect
according to the foreknowledge of God? Me? It is a believer
in all. leaves us in awe. We read this
in Malachi 316. It says, then they that feared
the Lord spake often one to another. They spake often one to another.
We need to encourage one another. The world tears down enough,
we need to encourage one another. We need to. And the Lord hearkened
and heard it in a book of remembrance was written before them before
him for them that feared the Lord. and that thought upon his
name, Peter brings forth in this wonderful epistle, it is the
true grace of God wherein all of God's saints stand. The only
reason you and I stand still, even today, is because of the
grace of God. That's it. We left to ourselves,
I was talking to a dear saint this week, Brother Zane, we were
talking about this, left to ourselves, we'd be gone. But he keeps us. The only reason
we stand is by the grace of God. Where in all of God's saints
stand, not just us, but all of them, all of them. We who are
God's children need to be established in his truce, strengthened by
his truce, by the gospel, settled, which means grounded and firmly
fixed in the true grace of God in Christ. We need this. We need this. One commentator
of old brings forth about this wonderful epistle. He says this,
this excellent epistle full of evangelical doctrine and apostolic
authority is a brief and yet clear summary, both of the consolations
and instructions needful for the encouragement and direction
of a Christian in their journey to heaven. elevating their thoughts
and desires to that happiness and strengthening them against
all opposition in the way both of that corruption within and
temptations and afflictions from without. And we know we're our
own worst enemies. We know that. This book strengthens
us, strengthens us. Both from that corruption within
and that temptation and affliction from without. The heads of doctrine
contained in it are many, but the main that are most insisted
on are these three, faith, obedience, and patience, to establish them
in believing, to direct them in doing, and we know that our
doing there doesn't mean we're not saved by those works, no,
no. The whole thing with James when
he said faith without works is dead, meaning that, what that
means, that's not works to justify us, because we're justified by
Christ. It's evidence of a new birth within us. It's evidence
of a new birth within us. They're not justifying works.
Faith, obedience, and patience to establish them in believing,
to direct them in doing, and to comfort them in suffering.
That's what this book is about. This epistle was written by Peter.
It says an apostle of Jesus Christ, Now the fact of Peter being the
inspired writer has never been contested by any of God's saints.
And neither do we read in the history of the church where any
did not believe Peter's epistles to be part of the canon of Holy
Scriptures. Peter wrote this epistle when he was with the
church at Babylon. Turn if you would to 1 Peter
5, verse 13. We see that over in chapter 5,
verse 13. And this doesn't mean Rome. Some
people say, well, that means Rome. No, it doesn't. It means
Babylon. Look what it says. The church
that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluted you, and so
doth Marcus, my son. Now, Josephus, a Jewish historian
in his writings, states that there was a great multitude of
Jews in the Chaldean Babylon. And we know that Peter was the
apostle of the circumcision, so we see that he was among the
called ones out of the circumcision. We also know there's many Gentiles
over there as well. So this epistle, now this epistle
here is not like the epistles of Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews,
which are principally occupied with one great doctrinal theme.
It more resembles the minor Pauline epistles, the personal letters
of Paul, with this difference that the doctrinal and practical
statements are more co-mingled, they're co-mingled together.
And we see that as we study this wonderful book. There is comparatively
little discussion or argument in it. It is as the author himself
describes it, look at verse 12 of chapter 5, a testimony in
an exhortation. of the true grace in which the
believer stands, which which we know is only found in Christ,
only found in Christ. Look at first Peter five, verse
12, by savannas, a faithful brother unto you, as I suppose I have
written briefly exhorting and testifying that this is the true
grace of God where you stand. So it's a testimony. Peter will
bring forth the comforting truths of the gospel. by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit of God. As he's writing to those who
are suffering affliction, look at chapter one, verses six and
seven. He's writing to those who are
suffering affliction for the gospel by trials, temptations,
and manifold afflictions. Manifold temptations. Look at
1 Peter chapter one. Now, we're gonna see that this
is applicable to all of us too right now. There's a universality
of this epistle to all the elect of all the ages. Wherein ye greatly
rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, you are in heaviness
through manifold temptations. Let the trial of your faith be
much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried
with fire, might be found unto the praise and honor and glory
at the appearing of Jesus Christ. I remember this too. Peter, when
he wrote this, was an older man. He probably expected soon to
be with the Savior. He felt that he was nearly done
with the conflicts and toils of this life. So it was natural
that he should direct his eye onward and upward to Christ.
Onward and upward to Christ. And to dwell on those things
in the gospel, which were there to support and comfort the soul
who believes upon Christ. Again, there's a universal application
in this epistle to the whole church, the elect of God, the
sheep of God. There are no discussions about
points pertaining to Jewish customs, which we see in most of Paul's
epistles. There is very little that pertains
particularly to one country, one city. All the truths here
are of universal use. for the body of Christ, for the
body of Christ. And it may be read with as much
interest and profit by us now, by us now, as to those to whom
it was addressed. And this is the wonderful truth
of the Scriptures. They're applicable to us right now, right now. Most believe it was written in
AD 64 or 65 because Peter wrote, the end of all things being at
hand, and judgment beginning at the house of God, which seems
to point to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. Also, historically
speaking, most commentators are fairly confident that Peter died
under the reign of Nero, which was during this time also. So
let's consider the first verse today. Peter, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontius, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Now note Peter introduces himself
as the apostle of Jesus Christ. He doesn't introduce himself
as Pope Simon Peter, does he? No, he introduces himself as
is the apostle of Jesus Christ. Now, the Catholics claim that
he's the first pope. He don't ever say that. Because
he's not. He was not the first pope over
the church at Rome. He never and we're see that he
he never elevates himself over the other apostles. He did not
see himself as superior, and it should be noticed in Second
Peter. Look over in Second Peter, Chapter one. He calls himself
a servant. a servant, as well as an apostle. So in
our book, he calls Peter an apostle of Jesus Christ. But look at
2 Peter 1.1, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. He's a servant of Christ. So
is every believer. We're all servants of Christ,
we who believe. to them that have obtained like
precious faith with us through the righteousness of God in our
Savior Jesus Christ. That's all the elect. The elect
have obtained like precious faith through the righteousness of
God in our Savior Jesus Christ. So Peter's not looking for a
fall. Peter's not looking for recognition.
He's a preacher of the gospel, a servant of Christ. He's not
Dr. Simon Peter. He's a fisherman
who the Lord by his grace saved. Many wear the title D.D. nowadays
in days of old, Doctor of Divinity. Many wear those titles after
their name and basically what they're doing is boasting of
their academic achievements. So let's consider this Peter.
This is Peter who sat at the feet of Christ, being personally
taught by Christ. And we see here that he calls
himself a servant over in 2 Peter 1, verse 1. On the day of Pentecost,
the Holy Spirit of God fell upon him, given Peter a remembrance
of what the Lord had taught him, plus a divine understanding of
the Old Testament scriptures. But he never boasted in that. He never drew attention to himself
for that. Never. Never. What did he do? He pointed his hearers to Christ. That's what gospel preachers
do. We point the hearers to Christ. We don't want to follow. We want
you to follow Christ. That's what that's the desire
of the gospel preacher. And no, it's not Reverend Simon
Peter. It's not reverend. People like
titles again. Peter knew that there was only
one who's holy. And I'll tell you what, gospel preachers despise
it when people call us reverend. I correct people when they do
that. I know Henry used to do that. I know most grace preachers
say, no, we're not holy and reverend. There's only one who's reverend,
and that's Christ and Christ alone. That's it. God's ordained preachers do not
seek the praise and applause of men. We don't seek worldly
titles that are used to elevate men, some men above others. No,
we preach Christ and Him crucified. We preach and proclaim Christ
and Him crucified. Look at verse 1 again. Simon
Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that
have obtained like precious faith, with us through the righteous.
Oh, I went back to 2nd Peter 1 1. To them who have obtained like
precious faith with us through the righteousness of God. Now,
Peter. In our text here, Peter means rock. We know that not
referring the Lord called him rock, not referring to the rock.
Our Lord is building his church upon because that rock is Christ. That rock is Christ. But several
commentators said Peter was called rock, which pointed to his character.
Pointed to his character. Our Lord knew Peter would be
a pillar in the church. That he'd be solid in his beliefs.
Firmly fixed on Christ. Firmly fixed on Christ. By his
grace alone. That's the only thing that made
Peter differ. From all those others around him. Same thing
that makes us to differ. From all our family members and
friends and people we know. The grace of God in Christ. Think of this, how sweetly the
apostle Peter is obeying his master's command, when thou art
converted, strengthen thy brother. Turn if you would to Luke 22
verse 32. And let us think of this, the
writer of this epistle, Peter, is the same one who once began
to sink beneath the waves. Yet now, in this book, he's helping
others to stand. He's helping others to stand.
This is the very Peter who denied the Lord three times. But he begins his epistle by
owning himself to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. Who made himself? Christ. Christ. One wonders what wonders the
Lord Jesus Christ has wrought for Peter by his grace. Look
at Luke chapter 22, verse 32. But I have prayed for thee that
thy faith fail not. And when they are converted,
strengthen my brethren. This is what Peter's doing in
writing this epistle. His goal is to strengthen his
brethren, to strengthen his brethren. through the proclamation of the
Lord Jesus Christ. What wonders again, the Lord
Jesus Christ has wrought for Peter by his grace. And is it no wonder then, that
he should say in verse 2 of 1 Peter 1 to grace unto you and peace
be multiplied. He had experienced this grace.
He's experienced this peace. He's experienced. And Peter's desire was to do
what the Lord had commanded him, turn, if you would, to John,
chapter 21, John, chapter 21. Peter's desire was to do that,
which the Lord had commanded him. John 21, verse 15. So when they
had dined, Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me more than these? He said unto him, yea, Lord,
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto them, feed my lambs. Feed them. He saith to him again the second
time, Simon son of Jonas lovest thou me he saith unto him yea
Lord thou knowest that I love thee He saith unto him feed my
sheep. How many times did Peter deny
the Lord three times, right? He saith unto him the third time
Simon son of Jonas Lovest thou me Peter was grieved because
he said unto him the third time lovest thou me and he said Lord
thou knowest all things You know all things, Lord. Thou knowest
that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, feed my
sheep. This is what he's doing in this
book. And we will see that as we study
this book. He's obeying the Lord's command
to feed his sheep. And we who are God's sheep are
fed by the preaching of the gospel. It never gets old to us. It never
gets old to us. We are fed by the reading of
the word of God, and we are established in the faith by the truth in
his word. And we are strengthened by the
gospel. This is why we need to hear it
all the time, because we're strengthened by the gospel. of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we are settled, which is grounded, firmly fixed in
the true grace of God. And again, this is what Peter
seeks to do in this epistle. And we will see that in every
chapter of this epistle, there's something read this epistle before
next week, and you'll see that in every chapter of this epistle,
Brother Zane and I were talking about it because they just happened
to read it this week. And I had read it before the
study, too, in every single chapter. Peter mentions the suffering
of the saints. And one of the reasons for this epistle was
to encourage God's children to endure the trials, temptations,
and afflictions which will come our way in this life. It's to
encourage us. And let us note who this epistle
is written to. They are called strangers in
verse 1 and identified in verse 2 as elect according to the foreknowledge
of God. the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ. Look at verses one and two. Peter,
an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout
Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, elect according
to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of
Jesus Christ, Grace unto you in peace be multiplied. Notice
the whole Trinity is mentioned. Salvation's of the Lord. It's
of the Lord. Elect according to the foreknowledge
of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, they're set apart,
born again by the Holy Spirit of God, unto obedience and sprinkling
of the blood of Jesus Christ. The whole Trinity is involved
in the salvation of these people spoken of. The elect, the strangers
scattered. The strangers scattered. And
Peter wrote this epistle to who? To the elect of God. That's who
he wrote it to. That's who he wrote it to. The
believer says, that's me. That's me. I'm one of the elect of God.
This letter's written to me. In verse one, he calls them strangers.
And there are strangers scattered throughout different parts of
Asia Minor, Turkey. They were probably descendants
of those who were living in those days during their Babylonian
captivity, who chose to stay there even though they were set
free. But in the spiritual application, this speaks of all of God's elect
who are scattered throughout time. Strangers in this world. Strangers in this world. It has been and is a question
among expositors, who are the persons to whom this epistle
is addressed? Well, it's clearly addressed
to Christians. People argue and fight over silly
things. It's clearly addressed to the
elect of God. plainly addressed to Christians
and to Christian residents in the countries specified, but
it also again has a universal application for us right now. And this appraisal is addressed
to Christian converts, whether Jew or Gentile, residing in the
countries mentioned. And Peter was an apostle to the
Jews and was writing to Jews, but in all probability there
were some Gentile saints in their number at these churches. But
in the spiritual sense, They're strangers in this world. Strangers
in this world. And in the spiritual sense, all
of God's saints are strangers. We're strangers in this world.
And that's what I want us to consider while we study this
epistle. We're strangers in this world.
And this inspired letter is called The First General Epistle of
Peter. It's not addressed to any local
body of believers in particular. This epistle, from the time it
was written, is addressed to all of God's elect throughout
the whole world. All of God's enlightened children,
we hear today, who believe, are strangers in this world. Strangers in this world. It's
not our home, is it? We're just passing through. We
really are. Scripture says our life is like
a vapor. Here today, gone tomorrow. We're just strangers. One day
to the Lord is as a thousand years. What's 80 years then? Light of eternity. What, seconds,
minutes? Our life is like a vapor, beloved. This world is not our home. And
there was a time when we were without Christ, being aliens
from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenant
of promise. We had no hope without God in this world, but not now,
beloved. Now in Christ Jesus, you, who sometimes were far off,
are made nigh by the blood of Christ. You're made nigh by the
blood of Christ. We were strangers to the truth.
concerning our great God. Just think of that. Before we
were saved, we were strangers to the truth concerning our great
God and the gospel of His sovereign, amazing grace. We were strangers
to God the Father at one time. In our minds, He's always loved
us, but in our minds, we had enmity with our God. Enmity with He who chose us in
Christ before time began. We were strangers to God, the
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in whom now we have redemption through
his blood, the forgiveness of sins. We were strangers to God,
the Holy Spirit, who gave us life while we were dead in trespasses
and sins. And it is he who guides us into
all truth. It is he who glorifies Christ,
revealing the things concerning him to us through the preaching
of his word and through the studying of his word and through the reading
of his word. We're ever learning. We're always
learning. Man. You've heard me say it before. If we think we've arrived, we're
in a heap of trouble. We're in a heap of trouble. But
we're strangers here in this world. And at one time, we were
strangers to the risen, exalted Christ. We had no idea who he
was. We had maybe heard of him. You who grew up in this church
had the blessing of hearing Sovereign Grace preaching, but you didn't
hear until the Lord opened your ears and gave you eyes to see
Christ. You were just as blind as anyone
else. And we who were saved outside
of a Sovereign Grace church, you know what I mean, but we
were saved under the preaching of the gospel, but we who were
in religion and didn't have the opportunity to grow up in a sovereign
grace church. We were just as blind as you
were. No hope. No hope. We were strangers to the risen,
exalted Christ of God, who's on this sovereign throne of power,
who lives as our blessed surety, who now gives us confidence and
sweet assurance, all because of what Christ has done. And
by God's grace, We will now continue to confess that we're strangers
in this world. Now we know him, but now we're
strangers in this world. The people of the world think,
they look at us and think, what in the world happened to them? Well, I'm redeemed. I'm saved. I'm born again by the Holy Spirit
of God, a new creature in Christ. Are you? Then we're strangers. We're a spectacle to the world.
The believer says, that's fine, I'm redeemed, I'm saved. This
brings me great joy. And we will see later on today,
God, by the foolishness of preaching, saves his people from their sins. Our citizenship is in heaven. The strangers spoken of in this
text, their citizenship is in heaven. It's not here. Don't
put deep roots in this earth. We're just passing through. We're
just passing through. Remember the pilgrims who used
to go out west? They were looking for another
place. They left everything and they journeyed out west. Or the
ones who came from England to here. Seeking a better country. Well,
we seek a better country, don't we? Where our Savior is. And we'll see that this epistle,
this wonderful epistle, is written to encourage us while we journey
through this world. While we journey through this
world. One day our faith gives way to sight. And we'll see our
Lord Jesus Christ in all his glory. Let the believer remember
this, nothing can separate us from His love, nothing. What
a Savior, what a Redeemer. Gracious Heavenly Father, we
thank Thee, we thank Thee for the wonderful salvation that
we have in Thee. We pray that as we study this
little book that You would encourage us through the trials and temptations
and sufferings that we go through in this life, that you would
give us strength and encourage us. Give us the grace that we
need. We pray all this in your name.
Amen.