We go to the state tournament
every year, and we have been to the state tournament, came
home this morning, one o'clock this morning. And I've been looking
at this for a period of time, and something caught my eye that
happened at the state tournament. During those games at halftime
or intermission or whatever, they'll have someone come out
at midcourt there at the Schottenstein Arena there in the high state
university. And they'll recognize him for some meritorious service,
for longevity of coaching or for community service, someone
that's been very active in the community in regard to sports,
organizing Little Leagues and all that. And they have some
dignitary from the High School Athletic Association and they
give a long resume of this person's credentials, you know, what they've
done and where they graduated from school and went on to college.
where they got their master's from and their Ph.D. and their
coaching career or their playing career. They recognized some
athletes from the state of Ohio that had gone on and played professional
sports, Al Oliver and Gene Tannis and those things. And I thought
as I was listening to this, it was just, I mean, it was five
minutes to give their credentials. It was five minutes to praise
what they had done. And humanly speaking, they'd
done tremendous things, and it's praiseworthy. And while they
were doing all this, I kept thinking of this that we want to look
at this morning. This is Peter, this writing,
this letter. God only called twelve of these
men. He only gave the church twelve of these men. Not hundreds,
not thousands, not millions. He gave twelve of these men.
And He raised them up from nothing. He raised them up from just where
we are. Nowhere. Nobody from nowhere. And He raised
these men up. And He equipped these men. He
taught these men. The Lord taught these men the
Gospel Himself. They learned it from Him. And
He sent them out and gifted them with talents that He's never
done before or since. And one of these twelve men is
who's writing this epistle. And he begins this epistle. And it'd be tough to do. You
know how we are. I'm telling you, there's things
that I've done in my life. I just kind of want somebody
to know about me. I'm kind of proud that I worked
40 years down there in that steel mill. Earl, we survived 40 years.
H.B., there's 40 years down there in that steel mill. And I think
we done the right thing. I never had to back up to the
pay window. I felt like I earned every penny that they paid me.
Every believer should have that good conscience about him when
he goes and gets that check. You know, I've done what they
told me. I've not sneaked off and slept somewhere. I've done
what they told me. I've been there. I've been dependable.
And we're prone to, we want people to know those commendable things
about us. Peter didn't. This is Peter. This is an apostle. This is that one. He don't say
when he introduces this letter, he said, you remember who I am.
You know, when them soldiers and them officers from the high
priest came in Gethsemane, our Lord had been there, and He had
prayed and sweat those great drops of blood, and He said,
Father, if it be possible, take this cup from Me. Nevertheless,
not My will, but Thy will be done. And they came to take Him,
and I was the only one. And I had a sword hidden down
here in my pouch here. And I drew that sword, and I'd
die for my Lord. And I reached out, the first
one that came near to him, I went to cut his head off. And my aim
was a little off, and I just cut his ear off, you know. That's
who was writing this. But he don't say that. He don't
say the commendable things, as far as we would call commendable.
He don't say that I'm the head of the church. I'm the first
vicar of the church. I'm the first pope of the church.
You've heard them. He don't say that. He don't say that. He just
simply says, I'm Peter. This is what I am. I'm an apostle
of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I am. I don't tell
you what I was. I don't tell you what I used
to be. I don't tell you what men think of me. I don't tell
you that when our Lord was there being beaten and slapped and
spit upon and His beard plucked out, and I was out there huddled
around a fire, you know, at 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning, and
a little girl came up, a little 12-year-old girl, a little Jewish
maiden came up. She said, I think I know you. Aren't you one of
them that's associated with him? Aren't you one of his disciples?"
No, I'm not. Everybody looked, you know, when
they said that. No, I'm not. And she did that three times.
And the last time, he said, I don't know that man. And he cursed.
And then the cock crowed. And the Lord had prophesied that
that happened. He would be dying three times
before the cock crowed. He don't mention that. He don't
mention the good things about Himself and He don't mention
the bad things about Himself. And I think that's something
we can learn here today. Don't go back. The Lord will,
in His good pleasure and in His time, He'll roll back that curtain
of memory. If we get a little puffed up and we get a little
thinking too much of ourselves, He'll roll that curtain back
and He'll say, let me give you a glimpse of what I brought you
from and what you still are if it's not for my grace. He'll
give us a glimpse of that. But don't beat ourselves up.
Don't be down in the mouth. Don't be your chin dragging the
ground all the time. Because we have much to be thankful
for. Don't continue to beat yourself
up over... Peter didn't. Peter introduced himself to these
people in this letter. And he said, I'm Peter. And this
is what I want you to know about me. And this is what I want you
to know about me. And that's what I want to know
about you. He says, I'm an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm
just a messenger. I'm nobody. And if it wasn't
for him, I'd still be out there rolling on the high seas, fishing
every day. I'd be out there with an unruly
lot, with a rough and tumble lot of men. But I am what I am
by the grace of God. And that's what I want you to
know about me. And I know, John, that's what he wants you to know
about him and other men, all you. What do they say about you? Boy, I tell you what, Family
reunions can be brutal places because family knows you. I mean,
they know you. I use Carla all the time. Carla's
known me since I was five years old. Carla, she grew up with
my older sisters. Please don't go to Carla and
say, Carla, tell me about that Samson fellow. Because she can
tell you. She's got a brother, Larry. We
went to school together. She can tell you stuff. She won't.
I promise you she won't. But you go to these family reunions
and boy, they rehash all this. You've got your wife there, you
know, and you've got your kids there. You don't want them to
know those things, you know. But here's a good lesson. Here's
a good lesson. This man, this is what he wants
to be known by. This is what I want to be known
by. Not that I'm an apostle. They're
not around anymore. The Lord gave them for a period
of time. And He withdrew them and He's not giving us any more.
But this man says, I'm just Peter. And I'm an apostle of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm a messenger. I'm a messenger
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm a sinner saved by the grace
of God. I'm one who was out there wandering
through this wilderness, lost and undone and wicked and awful.
And He crossed my path right out there on the beach one day.
He came to me. He came where I am. He crossed
my path. And He called me by name. And
he said, you follow me. You follow me. I'm going to use
you. I'm going to gift you. I'm going to teach you. I'm going
to show you the way, the truth and the life, and I'm it. You
come and follow me. You forsake all and you follow
me. And that's what Peter did. And now he wants us to remember
him for what he is, not what he was. And when we know those
things about those people, just leave them back there. Just leave
them back there. Peter did. Peter did. He said,
I'm an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. And look here, who he's
writing it to. Boy, this is, look at these three
little words. To the strangers. To the strangers. Do you fit that category? I looked
that word up. I looked that word up. And it
appears many times in the scriptures. And several places, I believe
it's 16 places, that same word is translated pilgrims. Peter's
writing this to pilgrims. And that word, pilgrims, listen
to this. This is something. You know what a pilgrim is? A
pilgrim is a person. A pilgrim is a person living
in a foreign country, residing by the side of the natives of
that country. Does that ring a bell? Does that
ring a bell? We need to have this place. We
need to have this place. 1965, me and Jackie was going
to get married. I was working down there at the
Arm Co., and I was 20 years old, and Vietnam was going crazy,
as many of you know firsthand. And I knew that if I was drafted,
we wouldn't be married. And so I joined the Air Force.
I had a brother-in-law, my sister's husband was in the Air Force,
and so I went and joined the Air Force for four years. And
we got married, and they sent us to Scottfield, Belleville,
Illinois. And while I was out there, Adam was born out there.
And then they sent me overseas to a little place called Okinawa.
I'd never heard of it before. Little island out there, 390
miles off the coast of Red China. And we was over there for 31
months. And I know firsthand about living in a foreign country.
And I thought as I was looking at this, Peter's writing this
to believers. He's writing this to believers that have been dispersed
from their homeland because of the gospel. Because of their
faith and hope in the Lord Jesus Christ. For the message of the
sovereign grace of God in Christ to sinners that he knew before
the foundation of the world. That's why these people was in
a foreign country. They had to leave their homeland because
the people there was out to do them harm because of the message,
because of the hope they had in a person, the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they left and they went to a foreign country. And I thought
as I was looking at this, I don't know what that means to be in
a foreign country. And I thought, you know what, when you're in
a foreign country, you know what's different? You know what's different?
Any of you been in a foreign country and been there for a
period of time? I'll tell you what's different. They have different
values than we do. They have different values than
what we do. Here in just a few weeks, the
longest running Memorial Day parade in America is right over
here in Ireland. It's been going on since before the Civil War.
And they have to have run it every year, rain or shine. And it is brutal. We sat there,
and everybody that's got their children in baton or dance or
whatever, if they're in a little league team, they're in that
parade. It goes on for days, it seems like. But to begin that
parade every year, I'll tell you how they begin that parade.
They have some veterans marching along with a black horse, and
this black horse has got a saddle on it, and there ain't no rider.
And they've got the boots of a soldier turned backwards in
the stairs, and they've got a black shroud draped over that. And
they lead that riderless horse through that parade, and every
now and then they'll stop and they'll play taps. Any of you
have ever heard taps? If you don't bring a fear to
your heart, you ain't got no heart. And they bring that flag
by. And I remember when I was in
the service in basic training, I had a black sergeant that took
us through the obstacle course. When I was going through the
obstacle course, he'd been a World War II veteran, seen a lot of
action. And this old black sergeant, he trimmed us down. He said,
I want to tell you something. He said, nothing makes me madder
than to go to a ball game. And he said, they're raising
the flag. And he said, you've got people running around and talking.
And he said, whispering, and he said, not standing there.
He said, you see that red on that flag? He said, every time
you see that, you think blood, because somebody died so that
you could be wherever you're at. Somebody died so that you
could be sitting there in the shade there over there under
an elm tree and that parade goes by. Somebody died for this freedom
we've got. That don't mean anything to anybody
over in Okinawa. It don't mean anything to anybody
in Mexico. It means something to us. It
means something to us. That's the first thing I remember
about being in Okinawa. Them people's values aren't like
our values. Gettysburg Address don't have any meaning to them
people. When that President Abraham Lincoln stood out there on that
battlefield and said, we've set some people free here. A tyranny
that this country has endured for a hundred years, it stops
today. And these people are just like
we are. They're sinners in need of the Savior. And the only way
they're going to be saved is if God does a work of grace in
their heart. And we're not going to treat them that way no more.
And he stood out there and gave that Gettysburg Address. It means
something to us. It means something to us. We hold these truths to
be self-evident that all men are created equal. It means something
to us. That means me and the side of
this country. That means me, a lowly nobody. We've got some rights, life,
liberty, pursuit of happiness. It don't mean anything to them
Okinawans. It don't mean nothing to them. Don't mean anything
to them. How we dress. How they dressed over there.
They didn't dress the way we dress. They didn't dress the
way we dress. I venture to say none of them
over there owned a shirt and a tie. If that's what it means
to be well dressed or on an appropriate occasion, they didn't have any
of that. Didn't mean anything to them. Those things don't mean
anything to them people. The natives of a land that you're
a stranger in, means something to us. But I thought, you know
the main thing, the main difference in those places? You know the
main thing over there when we was over in Okinawa? They don't
talk the way we talk. They don't use the same language
that we use. The language don't mean anything.
We was over there for a... Jackie and Adam came over and
while we were over there, Aaron, our son, was born over there.
And then we was going to get discharged. I was going to be
discharged over there and we didn't have a home, we didn't
have a car, we didn't have a stick of furniture. We didn't want
to come back and set up housekeeping. We didn't even have a house.
So Jackie come home early. She come home in January of 1969.
I didn't get discharged until September. And while I was over
there, she faithfully sent me those letters. Love letters from
a far country, from a homeland. She sent me them letters. I'd
get them letters. I couldn't wait. Rip them open.
I could take that letter. I didn't. But I could take that
letter. I could give it to one of them. I worked over there.
I was a sergeant, and I was a shift leader. And I had ten Okinawans
working for me, plus some GIs. And they had a break room. They
had a little old room, and they ate in there, and they played
cards. They had the weirdest card games you ever seen. The
figures on them is all foreign. And that's something the VAM
didn't mean nothing to me. But I could have took that letter
from my wife and took it in there and said, here, Read this. You know where we're going with
this, don't we? It didn't mean nothing to them. It didn't mean
nothing to them. It didn't mean nothing to them.
And the gospel don't mean anything to the natives of this land.
The gospel. Those things that separate us
from everybody else. Those things because of the grace
of God that He's called us by His grace to faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ. It don't mean anything to this.
The religious world we live in, or the natural world that's surrounding
us here in this country. It don't mean anything because
we speak a different language. We speak a different language.
Look here. He says, I'm writing this to you pilgrims that are
living among the natives of a foreign country. You don't walk like
they do, you don't talk like they do, you don't act like they
do, and you don't believe like they do. You don't communicate
like they do. Because you're strangers and
you're scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and
Bithynia. And then he goes right to verse
2. And this is what we're different. This is how we're different.
This is the things that we say that are different. This is the
language of believers. This is how Christians communicate. And the first thing he says to
these people, don't you know these strangers knew what he
was saying? Don't you know that pilgrims everywhere know what
he's saying in this letter? The Lord wrote this letter and
He used Peter to put the words down. And He's writing it to
me and you. And the first thing He says to
these strangers, to me and you, pilgrims, living in a foreign
country among the natives of that land, and we don't talk
like they do, we don't believe like they do, we don't communicate
the way they do, He says, you're elect. That's the first thing
He says. Does that offend anybody in here? Does anybody in here
not know what I'm saying? Elect! Don't run from it. Don't back up from it. Don't
be ashamed of it. Peter said, we're elect. We're
elect. We're chosen. We're chosen of
God. Look at this. I've got a couple
of Scriptures here. Look in John chapter 15. Look
over here quickly. Just a couple of verses. First thing he says, he uses
the word elect. Now, Earl, you take this out
there on the job. You take this out there and you
say, now fellas, I'm going to tell you something that I believe
with all my heart. I believe this with all my heart.
And everybody that God called by His grace to faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ, they believe it too. God's people are an elect
people. They're a chosen people. They're
a called people. They're a separated people. Separated
from the common lump of mankind to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Take that out there and see how many people. People that are
absolute knothead rebels that don't even know where churches
are or how to get in one, they'll take issue with you because they
don't know what you're talking about. But you take that out
there and walk in the lunchroom where H.B. and Frank is and you
say, fellas, let's talk about election today. And they'll say,
pull up a chair, let's talk, because we know what they're
saying. And that's what he's saying here to these people.
These are strangers. They don't fit in in this foreign country
because the people don't know what they're saying. They don't
talk the same language. Look here in John chapter 15
and verse 16. Are you there? This is our Lord
speaking here. You have not chosen Me, but I've chosen you. If this
whole Word of God was compressed down into one sentence, wouldn't
that be enough, John? You have not chosen me. I've
chosen you. And Peter begins his letter to
these strangers and he says, You're elect. You're chosen of
God. You're separated by God. You
have not chosen me. I've chosen you. I've ordained
you. You should go forth and you should go and bring forth
fruit and that your fruit should remain. Whatsoever you shall
ask of my father, of the father in my name, he may give it. These
things I command you that you love one another. You have any
problems with that? It's an amazing thing. I know
me. I know me. I know me real well.
It's an amazing thing. You love me. If you love me. Foreigners don't love me. And
people in Okinawa didn't love me. Men from the homeland love you.
Believers love you. Those that are elect love you.
They love you just the way you are. And they know 1 John 5.1,
Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ. Do you believe
that? Do you believe all that that's written in the Old Testament
that pointed to a man that would come and save his people from
their sin and shame? Do you believe all that blood
offered on all those Jewish altars all those 1,500 years? Do you
believe that points to one person, the Lord Jesus Christ, that would
lay down His life once in the end of the world for His people? Do you believe that? Yes, I know
you do. I know you do. Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. You believe it because
God done a work of grace in your heart. And whosoever loveth Him
that begot. You love Him for what He's done
for you? You love Him for His grace and mercy to you in Christ?
You love Him because He came and died on a cross and put away
your sin and shame? Well, whosoever loveth Him that
begot Me, loveth Him that begot. Loveth Him that begot. As they
say, it's a no-brainer. It's a no-brainer. It's got to
be that way. It's got to be that way. He's got no problem. Roy's
got no problem loving you and your dear wife. He's got no problem.
As Christ died for you, He put away your sin. As He died for
me, He put away my sin. Love one another. Verse 18. If
the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated
you. If you were of the world, the world would love his own.
But because you are not of the world, I have chosen you out
of the world. Does words have any meaning?
What's that mean? I have chosen you out of the
world. Out of the world. Therefore,
the world hates you. Don't speak the same language
you do. Peter said, I've got something for you strangers over
there among them people that are native to that land. They
don't walk like you do. They don't talk like you do.
They don't act like you do. They don't communicate like you
do. Don't believe what you believe. Don't have the faith that you've
been given. Well, you're elect. You're elect. And look here.
It's according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. It's according
to the foreknowledge of God the Father. Do you have any problem
with that? Do you have any problem with
me and you sitting down and communicating that? You are what you are. You're
here today because God from all eternity chose you to salvation
in the Lord Jesus Christ. He chose you to forgive us in
the Lord Jesus Christ. He chose you to be washed in
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. You got a problem with that?
Nobody got a problem with that here? I guarantee you nobody
here's got a problem with it. We love that. If He did not love
us, we would never love Him. If He did not do a work for grace
in us, for us, to us, through us, we'd still be out there with
the natives of this land. And we'd be out there with the
religious natives of this land too. But it's because he loved
the people. He had foreknowledge of a people. Just one verse. Our time's rapidly
leaving here. You're familiar with this verse,
but as John says, turn and look at it. Jeremiah 31. You're all
familiar with it. You all quote it. Jeremiah 31.3. Peter said, you're elect people. And you all talk the same way.
You all believe the same way. You all know the same One that
chose you in eternity past. Jeremiah 31, verse 3. The Lord
hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved you. Just put your name there, Chip.
Put your name there. Put your name there. I have loved you
with an everlasting love. An everlasting love. Therefore,
with loving kindness have I drawn you Have I drawn you? Just put
your name there. I've drawn you. I've loved you
everlastingly. And I've drawn you. I've drawn
you in particular. Peter said you're elect and it's
according to the foreknowledge of God. But he don't stop there. The Father. Isn't that beautiful?
He's our Father. He's our Father in electing love.
separated us before the world began, gave us to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's our Father. Our Lord said,
they asked our Lord, said, teach us how to pray. And he said,
you pray this way. You do. Don't take this down
there at the job and throw it out there at a time of trouble
and at a time of heartache and sickness that everybody's going
to go through. Don't throw this out there and say, here, you
pray this. But our Lord said, no, it's not for everybody. It's
for you, my disciples, you that I'm going to the cross for and
die for. You pray this way. Father, our Father, which art
in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be
done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day. You do. You
do. Give us this day our daily bread.
Isn't that something? He's our Father. God hates the
workers of iniquity every day. He's angry with the wicked every
day. He'll not clear the guilty. He'll not clear the guilty. The
wages of sin is death. Do you all fit in that category?
I sure do. But yet He's my Heavenly Father.
And He elected me in Christ before the foundation of the world.
He had foreknowledge of me before He created the heavens and the
earth. He chose me in Christ before the foundation of the
world. He's my Heavenly Father. He's not that strict and stern.
Judge of the whole world? He is to some. He's not to us.
He's a loving, caring, tender Father. He's our, according to
the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification
of the Spirit. Through sanctification of the
Spirit. The Holy Spirit works a work
of quickening in the heart of these elect sinners. We're to
stay dead. We're to remain dead. I think
I'm glad that we live right at the edge of the cemetery. I was
raised there. My father died as a young man,
and my mom got afraid in the old big house that we call it.
She sold the big house to me and Jackie, and we raised our
kids there right there at the cemetery, right on the edge of
our... And I think I'm kind of glad,
because it's a great lesson to remember. Go out there into that
cemetery, and just walk through that cemetery, and say, anybody
here want to live? Well, just come up out of that
grave. I've been doing it for 67 years. Where are they ever
going to come up out of there? Because they're dead. And that's
what happened in the garden. But God, through the sending
of the Holy Spirit, walks through this dead world, this graveyard
of this world, and attended by the preaching of the gospel,
He'll walk by somebody that's dead. Dead. And He'll say, Live! And they
live. Give some faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ. They flee to the Savior. That's what He says here. Do
you have any problem with that? Do you talk that way? Do you
believe that way? I sure do. Through sanctification
of the Spirit and to obedience. Obedience. God's people are willing
people. In the day of His power, we'll
be made willing. We're willing servants of the
Lord Jesus Christ. We're obedient servants. Do we
stumble and fall? Oh, we sure do. But as Henry
used to say, the bent of our will is towards belief. hope and faith and obedience
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He's my Savior. He's my Lord.
He's my God. He's my King. And I'm a willing,
loving servant of the Lord Jesus Christ, bondservant of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Obedience and sprinkling of the
blood. We've been sprinkled by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
It's an allusion to all them Old Testament sacrifices where
that blood, almost everything was purified in the Old Testament
by the sprinkling of blood. We're sprinkled by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. His blood stands between us and
God's holiness and justice and perfection. It's the blood of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And He says unto us, Grace unto
you and peace will all be multiplied. Be multiplied. Abundance of it.
I need abundance of grace. And I have peace with God because
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I have peace with you because
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's multiplied over and
over and over and over and over. Now, pilgrims, are we talking
the same language? Do you know what I've said here
this morning, as feeble and as fumbling and stumbling as I've
said it? You know what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying. Well,
if we are pilgrims, then we're strangers. We're strangers living
in a foreign country, residing by the side. the natives of that
country. Thank God. Thank God. All right.