1 Peter chapter one , we are just going to look at two
verses this morning, a kind of an introduction, but there is such a beautiful
revelation I believe Peter wants us to zero in on this morning. So, 1Peter
chapter one verses one and two, says this: “1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered
throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,
2 who have been chosen according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to
be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be
yours in abundance.”
Peter was one of my heroes.
When I think about Peter, we live in Richards Bay, which is a fishing place,
and Peter was a fisherman. He was not a theologian, he wasn’t someone who went
to Bible college, he was a kind of a man of the ocean, a man of the boat with
the smell of fish on his hands, he was a man sort of man out there, he was rough,
he was rugged, he had an opinion about everything, if he played rugby in those
days he would have supported the Sharks. He would be loud; he would have been
bold as Peter. Then Peter met Jesus. And Jesus took this man Peter, from a
career in fishing and he said: “Peter, I want you to follow me, I want to make
you a fisher of men.” And what we see in Peter’s life is an amazing journey of
what happens when a man follows Jesus, or when a woman follows Jesus. As he
walked with Jesus, Jesus challenged him, Jesus rebuked some things in his life,
Jesus encouraged him, and Jesus gave him an opportunity. We see this man who
was once a fisherman becomes this outstanding apostle. An apostle is a sent one
sent to change nations. We see this man as an elder in a church, leading and
preaching. We see this man that God uses powerfully to change so many lives.
That is the good news. The good news is that
if we follow Jesus, Jesus makes us into what we could never make ourselves
into. Jesus makes us into people of influence, people of power, people of light
and impact the people around us. And that is what I love about Peter. When he
speaks, he’s not speaking about some theory; he’s speaking as he records as he
encounters walking with Jesus as Jesus changes his life. So, who are you
walking with today? Can I ask you this question? Have you ever felt I don’t
always really fit in? Have you ever felt that? Maybe you felt it in the
workplace, maybe you felt in in a factory, maybe you felt it at school, and
maybe you felt it with your family. It just feels a bit different, it seems to
everyone else and the environment, and if anyone thinks this is funny, well I
don’t. I think that’s normal. I just don’t seem to fit in. I think the obvious
example for me is going to South America once or twice a year, and going into a
completely different culture and it always makes you feel like you don’t fit
in. I love the people, and I know they love me, but they speak a different
language. They look different, they eat different, and it’s just different. The
Spanish word for a foreigner is ‘estrangero’ which mean a strange person. And
you kind of feel like a strange person in the culture, because you just don’t
fit in. Peter knows what it’s like. To feel like you don’t always fit in.
You see, here’s the reality. If you are living
your life as a follower of Jesus on a mission for Jesus, you are living to make
Jesus known and reflect something of his magnificence, you want to be the light
of the world, you want to be the salt of the earth, that Jesus has spoken
about. Here’s the reality. There should be times in life when you don’t feel
like you really fit in, because otherwise you wouldn’t be making a difference.
Peter knows this. And as he writes those letters, he says to you strangers in
the world. Have you ever felt like that? I’m praying that today, you will
understand some of the grace that God has for us who are strangers in the
world. But He says something else as well, not just the strangers. Have you
ever felt like as you just settling down God move you on again? You might have
been in Richards Bay for years and years, but for others you might feel like
God seemed to be moving you from place to place and just as you are settling
down God moves you again. And God moves you again. God’s plan for His people
was to scatter them. Jesus God might still move you. He might move you to a
different nation, he might move you to a different place, and you might think
that it’s just a job opportunity, but it’s not. God takes people, and he
scatters them, he moves them around because that’s God’s plan. He wants to use
us and he determines exact times and places where you should live, and God
might have a plan for you in a different nation. So, Peter knows this. So it’s
not just the strangers in the world, he says “but to you who has been
scattered.” And he lists all the different places around the known world where
people have been spread out. Here’s the fascinating thing.
As Peter speaks to these two
groups of people, people who don’t always feel like they fit in, people who
feel like they’ve been scattered, he calls them by a most intriguing name. You
can read that right at the beginning. He says: “Peter the apostle of Christ
Jesus, to God’s elect.” That’s what I want to focus on today. That word
‘elect’ means chosen. And I believe that today, as we catch a hold of the
grace, as we understand what it means that we have been chosen by God. And even
if at times you feel like a stranger, even if at times you feel like God is
moving you all over the place, when you understand that: “God, you have chosen
me.” It releases an amazing grace in our hearts in which we can stand strong
and be bold and be confident. I think this idea of being chosen by God or
something, Peter was passionate about. I think Peter when I think about him; he
likes to be involved, I can’t think of Peter not being involved, he’s that kind
of person. So can you imagine when Jesus first started His ministry, and He was
calling people, and some young men were being there to gather around Him and at
one point Jesus had about forty, fifty, sixty men around Him. And one morning
He gets up and says: “Now, I’m only going to choose twelve of you to be my
disciples. I can’t spend all my time on all of you; I’m only going to choose
twelve.” Imagine Peter thinking and He says: “Bartholomew, I want you to come
with me and be one of my twelve and Judas, you come with me, and John.” and
Peter is like, you know, like the donkey in the movie ‘Shrek,’ whatever it is like; “Pick me, Pick
me, Pick me !” And then Jesus says: “Peter. I’m choosing you.” I think Peter
must have known. That sense of privilege, that sense of joy of actually;
“Jesus, you have chosen me.”
Because what we see is as Peter writes, he
writes about the fact we are a chosen people, that Jesus was chosen, have a
look here for example in One Peter chapter two verse four, it says here of
Jesus; “As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men, but chosen by God, and precious to Him.”
He says that even in Jesus how people rejected him. He was a stranger in the
world, but God, you have chosen him. In One Peter chapter verse nine, Peter
speaking to the church he says: “But you are a chosen people. A royal
priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God that you may declare the
praises of Him who calls you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”
No wonder we feel like strangers, we are chosen, we are a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, and we have a job to do. Peter wants us to catch right from the
beginning from this letter, what it means that God has chosen us. Why has he
chosen me? How did he choose me, and what’s the point? What purpose has he in
choosing me? That’s what we’ll be looking at in a moment.
And an amazing thing as we see we look this
choosing process today is we see how God in the trinity, Father, Son and Holy
Spirit, are all involved in getting us chosen. He says we are chosen by the
foreknowledge of God the Father, through the work, the sanctifying work of the
Holy Spirit, for obedience to Jesus and the sprinkling of His blood. So, we are
going to look at each one of those, in a little more detail. The first question
is: why has God chosen you. It says: “By the foreknowledge of God the father.”
That word foreknowledge means that God has knowledge before something has
happened. So, God chooses us because of His foreknowledge. You see, the amazing thing about God is that
our God knows everything about everything. God knows everything about the past,
and God knows everything about the future. There’s nothing to be known that God
doesn’t know. It’s hard for us to understand because we live in time. And we
have watches, and we kind of, there goes our lives as the time goes by. But God
is above that, and beyond that. In other words, God can see all our lives from
the beginning to the end, all at the same times.
Now, here’s a thing; In Matthew
Chapter twenty and verse fourteen, Jesus said it like this: “For
many are invited but few are chosen.” What that means is, when Jesus
was on the cross, He was busy paying for the sin of the world. Jesus was
punished for all our sin. What happens is when Jesus was on the cross, He’s
sending out an invitation to the world. “I will take your sin, I will take your
punishment for your sin, right there on the cross the invitation goes out to
all seven billion people in the world plus all those who have before, the
invitation is sent out for salvation. My question is: how good are you with
RSVP on invitations. Most people are not very good. The Bible says many are
invited, many are chosen, but few are chosen. But you see, it’s as if Jesus on
the cross sent out this invitation to salvation to the world but God knew in
advance who was going to RSVP that invitation. And you knew in your heart, and
in my heart that something inside my heart was going to respond.
You see, there’s basically two
ways which we could go. Let’s use Peter as an example, and let’s use Judas as
an example. Both Peter and Judas were called of Jesus. Both of them heard about Jesus, both of them
saw Jesus, both of them betrayed Jesus. Judas betrayed Jesus, he sold Him out
for thirty pieces of silver, pointed out Jesus; “This is the one, get Him.”
Peter, the close friend, who said; “Jesus, I’ll be with you to the end.” Sold
out his Friend, said: “I never knew Him. I swear I don’t know this guy.” Both
of them sold out to Jesus. Both of them betrayed Him. The difference was, Peter
turned back and turned towards Jesus. When he saw Jesus again, he got out of
the boat, he ran towards Jesus and fell at His knees and said: “Jesus forgive
me.” Judas turned away from Jesus. He felt guilty, but I’m going to deal with my
guilt my way and so he hung himself to punish himself. See, that’s the
difference. One turned towards Jesus, one turned away from Jesus.
And God knows in advance in your heart and
mind, who are those who will turn towards me, and those who will turn away from
me. And based on the foreknowledge of God the Father, He then sets up for stage
two. Let me talk about stage two. How did God then, he sees in your heart
something and He knows, “this heart is going to turn towards me.” And so as
part number two how does God choose us? He says: “Through the sanctifying work
of the Spirit.” To sanctify means to set apart or to set up, and I love this.
You think: “I just happen to hear the Gospel, and I happen to respond, I just
happen to choose Jesus.” Nothing could be further from the truth. The reason we
respond to the call of salvation is because the Holy Spirit is hard at work in
the background setting us up to respond. Have a look at the word sanctify means
to set apart and to set up. And here are some of the ways that the Holy Spirit
and you might recognize in your own life, in your own journey, how the Holy
Spirit has done some of these things for you.
1.
Number one: The Holy Spirit uses
circumstances. Now, the world sometimes thinks all are coincidences, but
when you understand the brilliance and the power and the mightiness of our God,
we realize there is no such thing as coincidence, the hand of God is at work.
Listen to this, Ephesians One verse eleven says: “11 In him we were
also chosen,[e having been
predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity
with the purpose of his will” In other words, we have faith to believe
our God can engineer our destiny and circumstances so that we’ll be there at
the right place at the right time. I know in my journey, I became a believer
about twenty five years ago or something, I was seventeen years old, and it
just happened to be a time in my life where I was really searching, asking
questions, thinking what is the purpose of life, what am I supposed to do. Just
at that moment, this team came to the mighty city of Howick where I lived, the
wild team, there was this Baptist bunch of school leavers who were going from
town to town and it so happened that this team spent a few nights at one of my
best friend’s home. God arranged the time and circumstances, so just when my
heart was ready, the people who had the message that I needed to hear just
happened to be staying at a best friend’s home. The point is this; the Holy
Spirit arranges circumstances to set us up so we can hear and respond. He doesn’t
just use circumstances
2.
Number two: The Holy Spirit uses people. There’s an amazing story
about Philip, how the Holy Spirit comes to Philip in Acts chapter eight and
verse twenty six and twenty seven, it says; “.26 Now
an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that
goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” 27 So he started out, and on his way
he met an Ethiopian[a]
eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake
(which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to
worship, 28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot
reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. 29 The Spirit told
Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.”30 Then Philip
ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you
understand what you are reading?” Philip asked.31 “How can I,”
he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So
he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.” He invites Philip into
the carriage, and Philip begins to speak to him about Jesus. The eunuch gets
radically saved, and this Ethiopian takes the Gospel back to Africa. And God
uses him mightily. Here’s my question: I bet you somewhere along the road of
your salvation journey, there was a Philip. For me, all the way back in my
story, My Philip’s name was John Kiln. He was a friend of mine in my class, he
came to me and said: “Hey Brent, there’s this team of guys who are coming to
stay at my house, and I’d love you to meet them, and there’s free cake. And he
put this invitation in my hand, and if it wasn’t for him, if it wasn’t his
courage, putting an invitation in my hand, I would have missed that
opportunity. I did a funeral, on a Friday. Many of you would have known Thomas
who passed away. He was part of this church only two and a half months ago; he gave
his life to Jesus Christ two and a half months ago. And the amazing thing is,
we had Caryn and Kallie Taylor, they were here ministering. And the reason that
they came to listen was because someone in the church went to Linda and Thomas
and said: “Hey, we hear you have cancer, why don’t you come along and hear this
message?” It took a Philip to have the courage to go and speak to say :”Why
don’t you come along?” they came, they heard, he got saved, radically born
again, two and a half months later, he was dead. Instead of going to hell, he’s
now in heaven. Thank you Jesus for Philips. I bet you there’s a Philip in your
life. And I bet you that God wants to use you as a Philip in the lives of
others. Sometimes we don’t even know it. Sometimes, it’s just a prayer, just an
encouragement it’s just a word, an invitation, it’s just a ‘something.’ But God
the Holy Spirit uses Philips to bring people to hear the message.
3.
Number Three: The Holy Spirit uses
conviction. In John chapter sixteen verse eight, it says: “When He comes, the Holy Spirit
will convict the world of guilt with regard to sin and righteousness and
judgement” the Holy Spirit is able to take simple words and pierce our
hearts with it. Peter preached and it said the people were cut to the heart and
said: “What are we supposed to do?” The amazing thing is I remember listening
to this wild team. Now, I heard about Jesus. I grew up in Sunday School
occasionally, I’ve been on a youth camps occasionally, I’ve been around, I’ve
known about Jesus, came from a Christian home, and it didn’t really affect me.
I mean every night I feel bad, so I would try to be more Christian like. I sat
that evening, eating cake, listening to this guy, and as the leader of this
team was talking, he was talking about the fact that God has a purpose and a
plan for our lives. And that only in a
relationship with Jesus will we ever be able to fulfil the destiny, the reason
that God has made us. And it’s like something inside my heart has come alive.
It just came out, I said: “That’s it, that’s it, that’s what I want I want a
reason to live for Jesus, now I understand.” The Holy Spirit uses conviction,
my heart was gripped, something came alive.
4.
Number Four: The Holy Spirit uses
interruptions in our lives. It says in the book of Revelations chapter three
verse twenty: “Here am I, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and
opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and him with Me.”
Sometimes the Holy Spirit does that. It’s like something inside; you can’t
ignore it for long. You can try, turn up the TV, and with someone knocking at
your door, eventually he’s going to drive you mad. Until you respond to it. The
Holy Spirit knocks on doors. Sometimes He knocks through a crisis. Sometimes it
could be a sickness. Sometimes it could be a death, it could be whatever, and
the Holy Spirit grabs our attention. I bet if you look at your life and
journey, you will see how the Holy Spirit engineered how He set you up for
salvation. For some of you sitting here today, you might not yet have responded
to Jesus. But even as I have been sharing some of these things, you might
realize, actually Holy Spirit, that’s been happening to me. You have been busy,
working in the background, getting me ready, setting me up for salvation. And
maybe today is the day that you choose. You see, John chapter fifteen verses
sixteen says: “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” The Holy Spirit, at
work in the background. Let me get to the final point. So, the Father knew that
you were going to respond, so He sends the Holy Spirit to do all the background
to get us ready to set us up. Why? What does God want us? Why did He choose me?
Two things and it is beautiful.
5.
6.
·
Number one: God has chosen you and me for
obedience to Jesus. Not obedience to the law, not obedience to a whole set of
rules and regulations. He has chosen us to follow after His Son so that we can
become more like His Son. He has chosen us to be moulded and conformed, we have
heard that prophetic word how God mould those little figures, God wants to mould
and change and shape us so that we can become just like Jesus. That’s why God
took hold of us. In Matthew chapter four verse nineteen, Jesus says: “Come
follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” That’s what we have
been called to. And I think for Peter that must have been ringing in his ears.
He had and he heard the very words of Jesus: ”Come follow me.” And
being a follower and disciple meant literally that. It’s not off to Bible College,
no, no, it’s off to walk with Jesus. Day in, day out. How do I apply this to my
life, how do I live this out? To live like Jesus lived. To treat people the way
Jesus treated them. To love them the way Jesus loved them. To worship the way
Jesus worshipped. That’s what we’ve been called to; our whole lives, moulded
and shaped to become more like Jesus. We know that scripture, Romans chapter eight
verse twenty, it says: “We know that in all things God works for the
good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
But it carries on. Verse twenty: “For those God foreknew, He also predestined,
He destined for us to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, and that He
might be the firstborn among many brothers.” What’s God’s plan and
purpose for our lives, we are called to follow Jesus. That’s it. We are called
to walk the way Jesus walked.
·
Number two: We are called to be sprinkled
by his blood. At first, that sounded a bit gross, but it’s not, it’s quite the
opposite. It’s one of the most glorious things in the world. The blood of
Jesus, you have been chosen by God, the Holy Spirit has set you up so that God
can take the very blood of His Son and sprinkle it upon your life. And is so
significant because as we read in the Old Testament, we begin to realize just
how powerful, God says theirs is life in the blood, there is something about
blood, represents life and the blood of Jesus, the Son of God, is the most
powerful substance in the world. I just want to mention three things about why
this is so huge.
·
·
1.
Number one: Because Jesus blood cleanses
us from all sin. Remember Adam and Eve. Adam and Eve were created sinless,
lived in the garden, unashamed naked, life was good. And then sin entered the
world. As soon as sin entered the world, there was a sense of guilt and shame, and
so what they did is, they made clothes with leaves. They felt exposed. God
comes to them, says: “That’s not going to work. Your effort to cover up your
guilt and shame is never going to work.” Up to that point, there had never been
a death in the world. Never. Not even an animal. Even lions were eating grass.
There was no death, up to that point. God takes an animal, and kills it. First
ever death. First ever of shedding of blood. For Adam and Eve, whose job was to
name the animals, it must have been a shocking thing. The animal had to die. He
takes the skin, and God says “With this blood covered skin, I need to cover
your guilt and shame.” Right from the beginning, God was teaching man a lesson.
Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sin. That’s exactly
why the blood of Jesus is so powerful, and so important. Because for your sin
and my sin, there needs to be a shedding of blood. Either yours or Jesus. It
says in Hebrews chapter nine, verses thirteen and fourteen: “The
blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkled on those who are
ceremoniously unclean, sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much
more then, that by the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered
himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences to acts that lead to death
so that we may serve the Living God.” Jesus blood washes, purifies and
cleanses us from all sin, and we have been chosen by God to receive this blood
sprinkled upon our lives.
2.
Number two: Jesus blood rescues us from
judgement. For the folk that Peter was writing today would have understood so
clearly, many of them were Jewish, and they still celebrated the Passover. The
Passover wasn’t just a nice roast once a year, it had a huge meaning. What
happened, hundreds of years back when the Israelites were coming out of Egypt,
God said: “I’m going to judge the people of Egypt.” On this particular night,
the angel of death is going to come over the whole Egyptian country, and he’s
going to put to death the firstborn of every family. The destroyer, the
destroying angel, the judging angel is going to pass over. But, if there
happens to be blood on the doorpost of that house, then judgement will pass
over. That is exactly what Jesus has done for us. Exodus chapter twelve verses
twenty one to twenty three, Moses summons all the elders of Israel and said to
them: “Go at once and select the animals for your families, and slaughter the
Passover lamb.” Remember Jesus, The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin
of the world. Take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood in the basin, and put
some of the blood on the top and on both sides of the door frame. Do you know
they literally painted the shape of a cross with that branch, because they
painted the door in blood? Not one of you shall go out the door until morning.
When the Lord goes through the land to strike down the Egyptians, He will see
the blood at the top and the sides of the door frame, and will Passover that doorway.
And He will not permit the destroyer to enter your house, and strike you down.
The blood of Jesus not just washes and cleanses, but the blood of Jesus
protects us from judgement and death.
3.
Number three, His blood makes us holy so
that we can enter the presence of God. If you were a priest in the Old
Testament, your job as priest was to go into the temple, and then to go into
the Holy place and the high priest once a year would go into the Holy of
Holies. Just to become a priest, he would have blood on his ear, blood on his
hand, blood on his toe, anything you use was dipped in blood, had to be
sprinkled with blood, because blood made something sacred, and make something
Holy, and nothing could go into the presence of the holiness of God that was
not sacred and set apart. So, blood was used to make something acceptable to be
in the presence of God. Exactly in the same way, we as children of God have received
the blood of Jesus to make us pure and holy and acceptable, which means we can
come confidently before our God and Father. Ephesians chapter two verse
thirteen says: “But now in Christ Jesus, you who once far away have been brought near
through the blood of Christ.” God has chosen us, He knew that you had a
heart that would turn towards Him and not turn away from Him. So because of
that, He sent His Holy Spirit on a mission to set you up for salvation, though
circumstances, through people, through crisis, whatever it took to conviction
to get you ready. And the reason He did that was two – fold
1.
He wants you to obey His Son. So that you can be
moulded and shaped to become more and more like Jesus. To enjoy the freedom,
the power, the wonder of what it’s like to live like Jesus.
2.
3.
And second. Because He wants your life touched
by the blood of His Son, to forgive you, to separate, to free you from
judgement and the fear of death and make you holy and acceptable in His
presence.
4.
There are going to be times,
and there should be times in our lives, where we don’t really feel like you fit
in. In the factory, the school, amongst other who stand for Jesus, and live for
Jesus. I want you to know the grace of being chosen. I have been chosen by God,
and I’m going to stand firm in His grace, There will be times when you don’t
understand why, God seems to move you around, and this job closing, and you get
retrenched from here, there’s a job opening here and God calls here, and you
move around, and you think if only I could just settle down. God might be moving
you, and scattering you. The grace of being chosen, when you understand you
have been chosen by God, I have a mission from God, then we can just stand firm
in that grace. The theme of this book, Peter says right at the end, he says: “this
is the true grace of God. Now stand fast in it.” Today, we looked at
the grace of being chosen. You and me, we have been chosen by God. Let’s stand
fast in it in Jesus Name. Amen.
Web Address: www.outlookchurch.co.za
Senior Pastor: Brent Brading.
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