Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Evening Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/ev/ev20110508.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
I Peter: Effective Christian Living In A Spiritually Hostile World
Part I: Affirmative Living Based On An Edifying Orientation To God
(1 Peter 1:1-12)
  1. Introduction
    1. It is tempting for believers in Christ who face a spiritually hostile world to grow negative in their outlook.
    2. 1 Peter 1:1-12 in its context provides a wonderful antidote for this temptation (as follows):
  2. Affirmative Living Based On An Edifying Orientation To God, 1 Peter 1:1-12.
    1. Humanly speaking, 1 Peter 1:1-12 could easily have been a depressed section of Scripture: the author, Simon Peter, lived with Jesus' prediction that He would one day die by crucifixion for his faith (1 Peter 1:1a with John 21:15-19) and Peter wrote to believers who faced a pagan society that threatened their happiness, Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978, p. 1757, "Introduction to the First Letter of Peter."
    2. However, Peter countered such a defeatist attitude as he wrote of greatly rejoicing (1 Peter 1:6a), and the basis of such optimism was the believer's edifying orientation to God noted in 1 Peter 1:1-12 as follows:
      1. Peter told believers of God's eternal choice of them unto holy living in their current trials, 1 Pet. 1:1-2:
        1. Peter wrote to "strangers" (NIV), the diaspora, a term for dispersed Hebrews and used here of Hebrews dispersed for their faith. (Arndt & Ging., A Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T ., 1967, p. 187)
        2. Encouraging them, Peter noted God had chosen them in eternity past in foreknowledge of their sanctification of the Holy Spirit to obey Him and be sprinkled by Christ's blood, 1 Peter 1:2.
        3. This sprinkling in a Hebrew context recalls the only place in Scripture where the people of Israel were sprinkled, Exodus 24:6-8 where they were sprinkled by Moses to be set apart for holy living!
        4. So, Christians in a spiritually hostile world must recall God eternally foreknew they would face this world and He chose them in Christ to live holy lives in the world as overcomers, an uplifting focus!
      2. Peter told believers of their incorruptible heavenly inheritance, 1 Peter 1:3-4: many of Peter's Hebrew readers had suffered a loss of property for the faith (Heb. 10:34; 13:10-13), so his news of a heavenly, incorruptible inheritance due to Christ's death and resurrection (1 Peter 1:3-4) would encourage them!
      3. Peter told believers of God's unconditional salvation security that they might posses that inheritance:
        1. He claimed the believer's heavenly inheritance was unfading, reserved in heaven for him, 1 Pet. 1:4.
        2. Also, so that the believer might possess that inheritance, Peter claimed God "shielded" him by His power through faith for that salvation where "shielded" is from phrouroumenous , a military term used of a garrison within a city used to keep order there, 1 Peter 1:5 NIV; B. K. C., N. T., p. 841.
        3. God's power thus guards the believer from within, keeping his soul within him saved from himself so he can possess his inheritance in unconditional salvation security that cheered Peter's readers!
        4. News of this secure destiny toward a secure, blessed inheritance would greatly cheer such believers!
      4. Peter exhorted believers to affirmative living in a spiritually hostile world by focusing on God's use even of persecution trials to produce an invaluably mature faith, 1 Peter 1:6-9: he acknowledged that believers under persecution temporarily suffered grief, but, in doing so, they could yet greatly rejoice in noting that such trials produced an invaluable faith that would be highly honored at Christ's appearing.
      5. Peter exhorted believers to affirmative living in a spiritually hostile world by focusing on God's edifying provision of Old Testament prophetic material about their lives in Christ, 1 Peter 1:10-12:
        1. Christ's salvation that Peter's readers obtained (1 Peter 1:9) was so great, Old Testament Hebrew prophets, highly esteemed men of God in the eyes of Peter's Hebrew readers (Matt. 5:12), wrote of it in partial knowledge, searching for the full understanding that was kept from them, 1 Pet. 1:10-11.
        2. They were even told that what they wrote was for us today, not for these great prophets themselves, things so great even God's holy angels desired to look into them, 1 Peter 1:12! (Daniel 12:4, 9-10)
        3. Such news would have greatly encouraged Peter's Hebrew readers, motivating them to live with positive attitudes regardless what level of trials of faith they experienced as Christians!
Lesson: By focusing fellow persecuted Hebrew Christians on God's edifying eternal plans for them IN the realm of their present trials, Peter richly encouraged them to live positive lives in the midst of trials!

Application: May we focus on God's blessed eternal view of our experience to stay positive under trials.