Papers Please!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pastor Don Carpenter \/ General<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strangers that do not belong are viewed with suspicion and mistrust. Often when crossing the borders from one country to another, the guards want to see your papers. They want to know three things: who are you, what are you doing here, and where did you come from? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As we continue our study through 1 Peter entitled \u201cNot From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner\u201d we come upon a section in chapter two where Peter helps us answer this very question. This is how we can answer the wary world trying to understand what actually makes us tick. This is what we could say to the spiritual guard that would demand,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPAPERS PLEASE!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Who Are You ?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Peter 2:9<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Chosen Generation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n show chosen wheel<\/p>\n\n\n\n eklego (?????????, 1586), \u201cto pick out, select,\u201d means, in the middle voice, \u201cto choose for oneself,\u201d not necessarily implying the rejection of what is not chosen, but \u201cchoosing\u201d with the subsidiary ideas of kindness or favor or love11 W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine\u2019s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 100.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGeneration\u201d is from a Greek word meaning \u201ca race, a body with a common life and descent.\u201d It does not mean here a group of individuals living within the span of a lifetime.11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Royal Priesthood<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Revelation 1:5\u20136<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n ?????????, ?, ??; ?????????, ??: pertaining to a king\u2014\u2018royal, kingly.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n The word \u201croyal\u201d is the translation of the Greek word for \u201cking.\u201d The Levitical priesthood were only priests. Believers in this dispensation are king-priests, associated with the Lord Jesus who is a priest after the order of Melchisedec, a king-priest.11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Didymus the Blind: Under the old dispensation, the priesthood and the kingship were two different things. No one could be both a king and a priest. But afterwards came the gospel, which united these two offices in Christ. From this it follows that the people whom he has chosen will be both royal and priestly at the same time. Some people wonder how it is possible, seeing that we are called from all the nations on earth, for us to be regarded as one holy people. The answer to this is that although we are from many different nations, the fact that we have all repented of our sins and accepted a common will and a common mind gives those who have repented one doctrine and one faith. When there is a soul and heart common to all believers, then they are called one people. Commentary on 1 Peter.11 Gerald Bray, ed., James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2000), 87.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Holy Nation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The word \u201choly\u201d in the Greek text means literally \u201cset apart for the service of Deity.11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56.show Holy wheel<\/p>\n\n\n\n Deuteronomy 7:6<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Peculiar People<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The word \u201cpeculiar\u201d here is used in a way not often seen today. The Greek word means literally \u201cto make around,\u201d that is, to make something and then to surround it with a circle, thus indicating ownership. The same verb is used in the Septuagint translation of Isaiah 43:21<\/a> which reads, \u201cThis people have I formed for myself.\u201d The word \u201cpeculiar\u201d today usually means \u201codd, strange.\u201d But it is not so used here. The Greek word speaks of the unique, private, personal ownership of the saints by God. Each saint is God\u2019s unique possession just as if that saint were the only human being in existence.11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56\u201357.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luis Palau tells of a woman in Peru whose life was radically transformed by the power of Christ. Rosario was her name. She was a terrorist, a brute of a woman who was an expert in several martial arts. In her terrorist activities she had killed twelve policemen. When Luis conducted a crusade in Lima, she learned of it and, being incensed at the message of the gospel, made her way to the stadium to kill Luis. Inside the stadium, as she contemplated how to get to him, she began to listen to the message he preached on hell. She fell under conviction for her sins and embraced Christ as her Savior. Ten years later, Luis met this convert for the first time. She had by then assisted in the planting of five churches; was a vibrant, active witness and worker in the church; and had founded an orphanage that houses over one thousand children.1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Michael P. Green, ed., Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor\u2019s illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).<\/p>\n\n\n\n What Are You Doing Here?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n …that ye should shew forth the praises..<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Show forth praises.The words \u201cshow forth\u201d in the Greek text refer to a spoken message.11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 57.These praises should be directed to the One who called you.The word \u201cpraises\u201d is not the translation of the Greek word customarily used to indicate praise, but of one which means \u201cexcellencies, gracious dealings, glorious attributes.\u201d 11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 57.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ephesians 5:8<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n You were called out of darkness.You were called into His light. The word \u201cinto\u201d refers here not merely to locality, but to a result, that of the saints being participants of the light that God is in His nature. We are made creatures of light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest\u2019s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 57.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It can be uncomfortable form time to time to come to church and be confronted with people who have different tastes than we do, have been raised in different cultures, or are at different stages of Christian maturity than we are. One thing we should know. If you are saved and they are saved, you both are part of a chosen generation, both part of a royal priesthood, both part of an holy, set apart nation, and you are both peculiar, or owned by God. Therefore let us unite shoulder to shoulder declaring public praise for the God that redeemed and united us , Let us unite as we let the light shine in us that called us both out of darkness. After all, we are all peculiar people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where Did You Come From?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Peter 2:10<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Hosea 2:23<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And I will sow her unto me in the earth; And I will have mercy upon her that had not obtained mercy; And I will say to them which were not my people, Thou art my people; And they shall say, Thou art my God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:9\u201310<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peter (1 Peter 2:10<\/a>) explained this figure with a quotation from Hosea 2:23<\/a>. \u201cDarkness\u201d refers to the time when his readers were pagans, ignorant of God\u2019s provision of salvation (cf. Col. 1:13<\/a>), when they were not a people, when they had not received mercy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Romans 9:25\u201326<\/a> KJV<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n And it shall come to pass, that in the place where it was said unto them, Ye are not my people; there shall they be called the children of the living God.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The theme in Hosea is the rejection of Hosea\u2019s unfaithful wife and her children and then their reception. Unlike Israel these Christians never experienced themselves as unfaithful to a covenant, but they did realize that they were once outside God\u2019s favor, that is, rejected. Once they were \u201cnot a people,\u201d for \u201cthe people of God\u201d was a term reserved for Israel. Jews were not slow to point this out and glory in their status. But now these Christians know they are elect\u2014not just a people of God, but the people of God. They are the recipients of God\u2019s mercy, that is, his care and concern. This poem sums up the election theme of this section and gives comfort to a suffering and rejected people who are to see that their earthly rejection is only earthly. In truth they are the accepted ones of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Peter H. Davids, The First Epistle of Peter, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1990), 93.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The discovery of Christ and the company of Christ is the key to happiness. There was a Japanese criminal called Tockichi Ishii. He was utterly and bestially pitiless. He had brutally and callously murdered men, women, and children in his career of crime. He was captured and imprisoned. Two Canadian ladies visited the prison. He could not be induced even to speak; he only glowered at them with the face of a wild beast. When they left, they left with him a copy of the Bible in the faint hope that he might read it. He read it, and the story of the crucifixion made him a changed man. Later, when the jailer came to lead the doomed man to the scaffold, he found not the surly, hardened brute he expected, but a smiling, radiant man, for Ishii, the murderer, had been born again. The mark of his rebirth was a smiling radiance. The life that is lived in Christ cannot be lived other than in joy. (From William Barclay, The Gospel of Mark, [Philadelphia: Westminster, 1975].)1<\/p>\n\n\n\n 1 Michael P. Green, ed., Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor\u2019s illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:49 AM May 6, 2020. Papers Please! Pastor Don Carpenter \/ General Strangers that do not belong are viewed with suspicion and mistrust. Often when crossing the borders from one country to another, the guards want to see your papers. They want to know three things: who are you, what are you doing here, and where did you come from? As we … Continue reading Papers Please!<\/span>
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