Called to a Higher Standard

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner / Testimony; Submission; Suffering / 1 Peter 2:18–20

Kites rise against, not with the wind. It is the winds that oppose it that drive it even higher. When the winds of adversity or criticism blows, allow it to be to you what the blast of wind is to a kite–a force against it that causes it to rise higher

Someone once said, “Adversity is prosperity to those who possess a great attitude.”

(From a sermon by Ty Tamasaka, Dare To Dream Again, 9/9/2011)

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Our testimony as believers is a tool that God often uses to declare His great salvation to a lost world. As sojourners, it becomes evident that we have something else to live for. This evening we are going to see that when facing mistreatment by others, it is during that very dark trial that we can shine the brightest.  

Peter was talking to scattered believers under the weight of persecution. He has given them identity and children of God and citizens of another country. Many of these same folks were actually slaves… and often mistreated. Tonight we will see that when we are shamefully handled we have a great opportunity to show the power of God as we go above and beyond.

Service That Goes Above and Beyond

1 Peter 2:18 KJV

Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

The particular Greek word translated “servants” indicates that these were household slaves. They were Christian slaves serving for the most part in the homes of pagan masters. The fact that Peter singles them out for special admonitions indicates that slaves, as a class, formed a large part of the early Christian community. The slaves are exhorted to put themselves in subjection to their absolute lords and masters.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 63.

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Thus the motive for the submission and service is not their respect for their masters, but their respect for God, who receives the service as if it were done to him and whose name is honored by their good behavior. Therefore their submission is not bounded by their masters’ actions (i.e., if the master is “good and kind”), but extends “to the unjust” (a term that means “bent,” from which the Eng. “scoliosis,” the disease of a curvature of the spine, comes, and hence “perverse”), for God is served and honored in either case.1

1 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), 106.

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They are to do this to the good and gentle ones. Some of these pagan masters had what the poet calls “the milk of human kindness.” They were good to their slaves. The Greek word translated “good,” refers to inner intrinsic goodness. They were good at heart. The word “gentle” in the Greek refers to that disposition which is mild, yielding, indulgent. It is derived from a Greek word meaning, “not being unduly rigorous.” Alford translates, “where not strictness of legal right, but consideration for another is the rule of practice.” The one word “reasonable” sums up its meaning pretty well.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 63.

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The slaves were to put themselves into subjection as well to the froward. The Greek word means “unfair, surly, froward.” The word “froward” is from the Anglo-Saxon word “from-ward,” namely, “averse.” The masters had their faces dead set against these Christian slaves. We can understand that attitude when we remember that these slaves lived lives of singular purity, meekness, honesty, willingness to serve, and obedience in the households of their heathen masters. This was a powerful testimony for the gospel, and brought them under conviction of sin. All this irritated them, and they reacted in a most unpleasant way toward their slaves, whom they would punish without provocation. Yet they did not want to sell these Christian slaves and buy pagan ones, for the Christian slaves served them better. So they just had to make the best of the situation.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 63–64.

Service That Becomes Thank Worthy

1 Peter 2:19 KJV

For this is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully.

 • One does not thank a slave for obedience.

 • “if a man” – in God’s eyes these believing slaves still had human value so could indeed be thankworthy.

Peter develops this idea with a difficult sentence, difficult both in its grammar and in its teaching. Consistent with his addressing slaves as full persons, he refers to their suffering “the pain of unjust suffering.” While the Stoics had admitted that injustice could be done to a slave and while in common practice most owners exercised moderation (if for no other reason than that slaves were valuable), Aristotle had earlier argued that injustice could never be done to a slave, for the slave was mere property (Nic. Eth. 5.10.8). Such a view was impossible for Christians, who knew that their Lord and God had taken the form of a slave (e.g., Phil. 2:7) and had treated slaves like any other human being. But this higher status for slaves in Christian ethics is not to lead to a demand to receive one’s rights, for what “wins God’s favor” (an unusual idiomatic use of the Greek word charis, often translated “grace”—the same expression appears in Luke 6:32–34, which could be the source of this teaching) is enduring or “bearing up under” injustice, which here refers to the insults, blows, and beatings a slave might receive if the master was in a bad mood or made impossible demands.1

1 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), 106–107.

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“Thankworthy” is the translation of a Greek word referring to an action that is beyond the ordinary course of what might be expected, and is therefore commendable. The unsaved slave would react toward unjust punishment in a surly, rebellious, sullen, vindictive manner. That would be the expected and ordinary thing. But Peter exhorts these Christian slaves to be obedient to these unjust and cruel masters, and when punished unjustly to behave in a meek, patient, and forgiving manner.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 64.

 • Motivated by a clear conscience before God.

This would be an action beyond the ordinary course of what might be expected, and would therefore be commendable. The motive for acting thus, Peter tells them, is “for conscience toward God.” The idea here is not that of conscientiousness in the ordinary sense, but of the Christian slave’s conscious sense of his relation to God. He has a testimony to maintain before his pagan master. He has the Lord Jesus Christ to emulate and reflect in his life.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 64.

Service That Is Above Reproach.

1 Peter 2:20 KJV

For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

The teaching is hard and unpleasant enough that some argument is needed, so Peter expands his reasoning before going on to ground it in Jesus and their calling. His first rhetorical question (“What glory is there …?”) points out that there is no merit in receiving punishment for one’s faults. The term “glory” (kleos) is found only here in the NT and refers to fame or reputation due to some great deed. One might show stoic endurance when one is punished for a fault, but it is hardly heroic or praiseworthy. 4 But in contrast to the first situation, there is a type of fame if one does good and suffers. In this situation one can show true endurance because it is wrongful suffering.1

1 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), 107–108.

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The construction “receives credit” is literally “this is grace (touto charis) before God.” There is no question of fame or boasting before God (and thus the change in vocabulary from kleos of the first part of this verse or epainos of 2:14), but neither is this simply “grace” only because God’s grace produced it. This endurance is an act that finds favor with God, on which he smiles with approval. It is a deed of covenant faithfulness to the God who has extended grace to them (1 Pet. 1:10, 13; 3:7; 4:10; 5:5, 10, 12) and as such leads to the paradoxical joy already mentioned in 1:6–7. 1

1 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), 108.

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A Second Century believer, in a letter to his friend, Diognetus, described how Christians are alike and different from others. He wrote, “Though they are residents at home in their own countries, their behavior there is more like transients…Though destiny has placed them here in the flesh, they do not live after the flesh; their days are passed on earth, but their citizenship is above in the heavens. They obey the prescribed laws, but in their own private lives they transcend the laws. They show love to all men–and all men persecute them. They are misunderstood and condemned; yet by suffering death they are quickened into life. They are poor, yet making many rich; lacking all things, yet having all things in abundance…They repay [curses] with blessings, and abuse with courtesy. For the good they do, they suffer stripes as evildoers.”

(James Bryan Smith, The Good and Beautiful Community, IVP, 2010, pp.28-29. From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Living Stones, 5/19/2011)

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 1:51 PM June 3, 2020.

Change the Narrative

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner / Testimony / 1 Peter 2:12; Proverbs 11:30

Bill White of Paramount, California talks about being in Compton, California, working with volunteers from several different churches on a Saturday doing projects to serve the city. At lunch time, he was headed down a narrow side street when he saw dozens of church volunteers (maybe 50 in all), all dressed in yellow shirts, streaming out of one of the sites. They had just completed a makeover of a local house.

Bill was six or eight houses away when he passed a married couple working in their own yard. He paused to compliment the woman on her roses, and she asked him what they were doing down the street. Bill told her that they represented a band of churches united in their desire to serve the city. Then they continued to talk about how that neighborhood had been radically transformed by these Christians’ simple acts of goodness.

When the woman’s husband saw Bill’s yellow “volunteer shirt,” he turned off his weed-whacker, set it down and started walking straight towards his wife and Bill. Bill says, “I will never forget his words. After looking into my eyes,” Bill says, “he nodded approvingly towards the renovated house down the street and then said, ‘I love your heart. Where can I get a heart like yours?'”

Flabbergasted, Bill simply replied, “We got our hearts from Jesus, and he would be glad to give you one like his, too.” And before he left, they had a great conversation about the unparalleled gospel of Jesus Christ and his power to change hearts, homes, neighborhoods, and cities.

That’s how it’s done, my friends. Simply BE who you are in Christ and reflect His love to a dark and broken world.

(From a sermon by C. Philip Green, Living Stones, 5/19/2011)

Peter wrote to exiled believers who were persecuted and often misunderstood. Last week we saw that believers need to fight a battle of lust on the unseen battlefield of one’s inner being. Tonight we will see that believers must fight an external battle of perception and communication. Believers are often maligned and misunderstood. Tonight we will see that we must do more than wring our hands and pooch out our lips about what those mean unsaved folks say about us… we need to change the narrative.

Change the Narrative With an Honest Conversation.

1 Peter 2:12 KJV

Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

The word “honest” is the translation of a Greek word that speaks of goodness which is beautiful, an outer goodness that strikes the eye. Alford translates it “comely”; Robertson, “seemly.” Our manner of life is honest when our lives are in accordance with what we are inwardly, cleansed, regenerated children of God. We give others an honest testimony and picture of what we really are inwardly. “Seemly” also speaks of the necessity of maintaining an outward testimony that is in conformity with our profession. The word “Gentiles” is from the Greek word referring here, not to Gentiles as in contrast to Jews, but to the unsaved world, the world of people without Christ.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 59.

“Having” has a durative aspect in the Greek. It is a steady holding of our conversation up to a certain standard. “Conversation” is the translation of a Greek word speaking of one’s manner of life. The word meant that when the a.v. was translated. Today, the meaning of the word is limited to the act of speaking. We must be careful to note the obsolete words in the a.v., and not interpret them in their present day meaning.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 59.

 • So our manner of life on the outside must match the cleansing and transformation that we have already experienced on the inside.

 • If we live in the flesh on the outside, our manner of life is not an honest representation of what God has done.

 • If we do good things simply to mask the darkness that lurks within, that is also not an honest manner of life.

 • Once we can get our every day life, thoughts, conversation, and actions to match the cleansing and transformation that God is working in the hearts of believers, then our testiomony becomes strong enough to win the souls of those who are watching.

Proverbs 11:30 KJV

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; And he that winneth souls is wise.

Romans 13:13 KJV

Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.

2 Corinthians 8:21 KJV

Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

Change the Narrative With Good Works

1 Peter 2:12 KJV

Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Here is timeless truth. Whether we like it or not, all Christians are an advertisement for Christianity; by their lives, they either commend it to others or make them think less of it. The strongest missionary force in the world is the Christian life.

In the early Church, this demonstration of the loveliness of the Christian life was necessary above all because of the slanders that were deliberately circulated about the Christian Church1

1 William Barclay, The Letters of James and Peter, 3rd ed. fully rev. and updated., The New Daily Study Bible (Louisville, KY; London: Westminster John Knox Press, 2003), 233.

1 Peter 3:16 KJV

Having a good conscience; that, whereas they speak evil of you, as of evildoers, they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ.

 • This narrative does not change when we demand that folks respect us.

 • This narrative does not change when we cloak our real beliefs and values as not to offend others.

 • This narrative changes when folks see our genuine manner of life coupled with good works consistent with that life.

Matthew 5:16 KJV

Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

Titus 2:7–8 KJV

In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity, 

Sound speech, that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may be ashamed, having no evil thing to say of you.

Change the Narrative By Bold, Open Living.

1 Peter 2:12 KJV

Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

The word “whereas” is literally “in what thing,” that is, in the very thing in which the world speaks evil of a Christian, namely, of his Christian life, which latter makes it necessary for him to diverge from the things of the world and live a life of separation. The words “speak against” are literally “speak down,” referring to the act of adversely criticizing a person. The separated life of a Christian is one of the most powerful means God has of convicting the world of its sin. The world does not like its sin uncovered, hence the persecution which it directs against the separated Christian. How the people of the world watch the Christian. The word “behold” in the Greek text means “to view carefully as a personal witness.”1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 59–60.

“Day of visitation” (KJV, NASB) was good Old Testament language for God’s coming day of judgment (e.g., Is 10:3); many texts reported that the Gentiles would recognize God’s glory in the end time (e.g., Is 60:3).1

1 Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 1 Pe 2:12.

Dan Blocker was my favorite character, Hoss, on the TV series Bonanza. When he died unexpectedly, Hoss died. The producers knew they could not replace him. The story was that woman was caught in a flood. Hoss held her above the water with one hand and held a branch with the other to keep them from being washed away. He died, but he never let go. He died, but she lived.

Fans almost mourned for the fictional character, but they agreed it was a fitting way for Hoss to die.

In the 80’s, I saw an article about a new TV series, Bonanza, the Next Generation. The story was that the original Cartwrights were dead. Ben’s brother ran the Ponderosa. For various reasons, Adam’s son, little Joe’s son, and Hoss’ son were coming there to live.

Hoss died without marrying. The new series said he had a illegitimate son and died before bringing the mother to the Ponderosa.

Test audiences were scheduled with fans of the original series. They were furious. Ben had three sons by three wives. Maybe he had another son somewhere. Adam, sometimes a scholar and sometimes a Casanova, may have had an illegitimate son. If Joe had an illegitimate son, no one would be surprised. But Hoss? HOSS??? NOOOOOOO!!! Fans refused to believe it. Test audiences were so angry that producers cancelled the series before the pilot even aired.

Fans refused to believe Hoss’ immorality. If a fictional character can inspire such belief in his character, how much more should we?

1 Peter 2:12 KJV

Having your

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 our study through 1 Peter entitled “Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner” 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,

“PAPERS PLEASE!”

Who Are You ?

1 Peter 2:9 KJV

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:

Chosen Generation

show chosen wheel

eklego (?????????, 1586), “to pick out, select,” means, in the middle voice, “to choose for oneself,” not necessarily implying the rejection of what is not chosen, but “choosing” with the subsidiary ideas of kindness or favor or love11 W. E. Vine, Merrill F. Unger, and William White Jr., Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words (Nashville, TN: T. Nelson, 1996), 100.

“Generation” is from a Greek word meaning “a race, a body with a common life and descent.” It does not mean here a group of individuals living within the span of a lifetime.11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56.  

Royal Priesthood

Revelation 1:5–6 KJV

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, 

And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

 ?????????, ?, ??; ?????????, ??: pertaining to a king—‘royal, kingly.’

The word “royal” is the translation of the Greek word for “king.” 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’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56.

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.

Holy Nation

The word “holy” in the Greek text means literally “set apart for the service of Deity.11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56.show Holy wheel

Deuteronomy 7:6 KJV

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.

Peculiar People

The word “peculiar” here is used in a way not often seen today. The Greek word means literally “to make around,” 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 which reads, “This people have I formed for myself.” The word “peculiar” today usually means “odd, strange.” 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’s unique possession just as if that saint were the only human being in existence.11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 56–57.

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

1 Michael P. Green, ed., Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor’s illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).

What Are You Doing Here?

…that ye should shew forth the praises...

Show forth praises.The words “show forth” in the Greek text refer to a spoken message.11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s 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 “praises” is not the translation of the Greek word customarily used to indicate praise, but of one which means “excellencies, gracious dealings, glorious attributes.” 11 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 57.

Ephesians 5:8 KJV

For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:

You were called out of darkness.You were called into His light. The word “into” 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.

Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 57.

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.

Where Did You Come From?

1 Peter 2:10 KJV

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.

Hosea 2:23 KJV

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.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary 2:9–10

Peter (1 Peter 2:10) explained this figure with a quotation from Hosea 2:23. “Darkness” refers to the time when his readers were pagans, ignorant of God’s provision of salvation (cf. Col. 1:13), when they were not a people, when they had not received mercy.

Romans 9:25–26 KJV

As he saith also in Osee, I will call them my people, which were not my people; and her beloved, which was not beloved. 

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.

The theme in Hosea is the rejection of Hosea’s 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’s favor, that is, rejected. Once they were “not a people,” for “the people of God” 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—not just a people of God, but the people of God. They are the recipients of God’s 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.

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.

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

1 Michael P. Green, ed., Illustrations for Biblical Preaching: Over 1500 Sermon Illustrations Arranged by Topic and Indexed Exhaustively, Revised edition of: The expositor’s illustration file. (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1989).

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 10:49 AM May 6, 2020.

The New Testament Temple

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner / Temple; Body of Christ / 1 Peter 2:5

Have you ever shopped at Home Depot? Lowes? Or some other home repair-improvement type store?

If you have you’ve inevitably seen the piles of lumber tossed aside that are broken, cracked, warped, crooked, or just plain look bad. These piles of lumber go ignored as faithful builders go for the ‘perfect’ building materials. After all, who in their right mind would ever use “bad” materials to build a house? You just don’t do that – you don’t start with a bad foundation because you know it won’t last.

So it’s funny that Jesus builds a very different way. He uses the crooked sticks, the broken sticks, the lame lumber, the stuff that everyone else is looking past and in many cases tosses aside. It’s almost like he DELIGHTS in using materials that everyone else thinks are ‘useless’. It’s almost like he’s loading up his proverbial cart with all the crooked, broken, and warped wood that he can and he’s parading it around – inviting others to question his decision making.

“How are you going to build a house with THAT!?!”

“Are you blind? That wood is warped, you’ll never pass inspection!”

“There is a huge pile of perfectly good material over there, use that.”

You can almost hear Jesus’ voice, “No, I’m going to build my house. And nothing is going to stop me.”… “These crooked, warped, broken pieces of wood are perfect and they’re are all mine.” And off he goes, building the spiritual house, one broken stick at a time. One warped 2×4 at a time. One rotten floor joist at a time. And believe me, IN CHRIST we will all pass the inspection as we stand redeemed and justified in HIM alone. What a beautiful picture of the grace of God through the redemption of His son.

Last week we talked about Jesus Christ being the Living Stone that was rejected only to be the foundation upon which He built the Church. Tonight as we continue Peter’s letter to the sojourners, strangers in a strange land, we see that we as believers not only have a foundation stone, Jesus, but we are living stones used by the Master Builder to make a beautiful Spiritual Temple. In that Spiritual Temple we are not only living stones but also believer priests offering sacrifices of praise in order to introduce the whole world to the One True God. We are the New Testament Temple.

1 Peter 2:5 KJV

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

Believers are Living Stones

 The Christians are not naturally “living stones,” but become such as they are joined to Christ in conversion and baptism (cf.), for it is only as they come to him that this building is possible.

2 Corinthians 3:18 KJV

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Nor are they pictured as individually stones, lying apart in a field or building site, but collectively as part of God’s great temple. It is God, of course, who is building them together into this edifice of the end times; thus the verb (“are being built”) is descriptive, not imperative (“be built” or “let yourselves be built,” neither of which fits smoothly into the context).

Ephesians 2:1 KJV

And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;

Believers Together Are Built Into The Spiritual Temple.

1 Peter 2:5 KJV

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

 • Built on the foundation of Jesus

 • Empowered to life by Jesus

 • Built together Believers interdependent upon each other.

Ephesians 2:20–22 KJV

And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 

In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 

In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.

Hebrews 3:6 KJV

But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.

Believers Are A Holy Priesthood.

1 Peter 2:5 KJV

Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

But they are not only the stones that form the house, but also the priesthood that serves in it. The term for “priesthood” is found in the NT only here and in 2:9. The latter reference shows clearly that Peter sees the church in terms of Israel’s priestly function, for it alludes to Exod. 19:6. And other NT authors pick up the theme using different words (e.g., Rev. 1:6; 5:10; 20:6—such language is used elsewhere only of Christ as a priest in Hebrews and of the Aaronic priesthood in Jerusalem, e.g., Luke 1:9; Heb. 7:5). That Christians are a holy priesthood likely refers to their consecration and separation to God (similar to Aaron in Lev. 8–11) by their conversion and baptism (as in 1:15–23) rather than to their moral qualities per se, which would be implied secondarily. 1

1 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), 87.

Exodus 19:5–6 KJV

Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice indeed, and keep my covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: for all the earth is mine: 

And ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel.

The “spiritual sacrifices” themselves are surely praise and thanksgiving (Heb. 13:15–16) and practical loving service to one another (Rom. 12:1; Eph. 5:2; Phil. 4:18). 

Hebrews 13:15–16 KJV

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. 

But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

How Firm a Foundation

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner / Foundation; Rock; Jesus / 1 Peter 2:4

 A sailor in a shipwreck was thrown upon a rock where he clung in great danger until the tide went down. Later a friend asked him, “Jim, didn’t you shake with fear when you were hanging on that rock?”

“Yes, but the rock didn’t,” was the significant reply. Christ is the Rock of Ages.

—Sabbath Reading

A building is only as stable as the foundation upon which it was built. Faith is only profitable if the object of that faith is truly trustworthy. It is all about the foundation.

As we continue our series “Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner” we come to 1 Peter 2:1-4.

1 Peter 2:1–4 KJV

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 

If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious. 

To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

Last week the subject how to develop a healthy appetite for God’s Word by getting rid of the junk food of worldly cravings. Verse three Peter tells us that we should do that if indeed, or since, we have tasted that the Lord is Gracious.

The thought of the Lord Jesus and His grace causes the Apostle to go down a wonderful pathway of thought about Jesus, the foundation of everything that he has been discussing so far. Jesus is the author if salvation. Jesus is the one who secured eternal life and waits for us in Heaven. Jesus is the one who shed his precious blood for us. Jesus, THE WORD, is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Jesus is the reason we can and should lay aside the junk food of lust and feast on His perfect truth. Jesus is the reason for it all. Jesus is the bedrock upon which everything rests, and how firm a foundation it is!

Jesus, the Living Stone

1 Peter 2:4a

To whom coming, as unto a living stone…

Living Hope

1 Peter 1:3 KJV

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Living Word

1 Peter 1:23 KJV

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Constant Communion

The words “to whom coming” in the Greek text do not refer to the initial act of the sinner coming to the Lord Jesus for salvation, but indicate a close and habitual approach and an intimate association made by faith when the believer realizes the presence of and seeks communion and fellowship with his Lord.

Foundation Stone

1 Corinthians 3:11 KJV

For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

Matthew 16:18 KJV

And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

1 Corinthians 10:4 KJV

And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Jesus the Rejected Stone

1 Peter 2:4b

To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men

The word “disallowed” is the translation of a word that refers to the act of putting someone or something to the test for the purpose of putting one’s approval upon that person and thus receiving him, this act of testing being carried to the point where no further testing is needed, with the result that one comes to the settled conclusion that the one tested does not meet the requirements of the test and is therefore disapproved, repudiated. This Living Stone in the Person of God the Son became incarnate, lived for thirty-three years in the midst of Israel, offered Himself as its Messiah, was examined by official Israel for the purpose of approving Him as its Messiah, and then repudiated because He was not what official Israel wanted in a Messiah. What a commentary on the totally depraved condition of man’s heart.

John 1:10–11 KJV

He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. 

He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

Psalm 118:22 KJV

The stone which the builders refused Is become the head stone of the corner.

Acts 4:11 KJV

This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.

Hebrews 4:15 KJV

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Jesus the Precious Stone.

1 Peter 2:4 KJV

To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious

The word “chosen” is not a verb in the Greek text but a noun, literally “a chosen-out one,” thus “elect.” “Precious” is the translation of a Greek word used in Luke 7:2, describing the centurion’s servant as “dear” to him. The word speaks of one being held in honor and as dear to another. “Of God” is literally “in the sight of God.”1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 53.

Isaiah 28:16 KJV

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, A tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: He that believeth shall not make haste.

The First Epistle of Peter 4. Christian Identity (2:1–10)

But the foundation, the cornerstone of the temple of God is Jesus, who, far from being rejected, is a choice or select stone, a precious or valuable stone, even if the world does not yet share that valuation. This is the one to whom they have come and whose dual fate they share.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 4:31 PM April 8, 2020.

Junk Food Addiction

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner / Repentance; Read; Bible

 Several years ago, park rangers in the Grand Canyon National Park had to kill over two dozen mule deer, because they became hooked on junk food left by visitors to the park – things like potato chips, cheese curls, and candy.

Once they got a taste of the sugar and salt, the deer developed an extreme addiction and went to any lengths to eat only junk food. As a result, the animals ignored the food they needed, leaving them in poor health and on the edge of starvation. Their junk food cravings caused them to lose their natural ability to digest vegetation. One park ranger called the junk food “the crack cocaine of the deer world.” (Arkansas Democrat Gazette, Spring 1995, www.PreachingToday.com)

So it is when we ingest thoughts of sweet revenge, bitter treachery, sugar-coated hypocrisy, sour envy, and acidic slander. Such a diet keeps us from hungering for the things of God.

As we continue our series “Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner”, we discover that Peter has turned his focus from the beauty of being Born Again, to the Beauty of the Word that wrought that Saving faith within us.

1 Peter 1:23 KJV

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

This evening’s text comes from chapter 2.

1 Peter 2:1–3 KJV

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, 

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 

If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

These three verses are one sentence that refers back to verse 23 of chapter. Since we have once tasted the pure Word of God, but later developed an appetite for spiritual junk food, we need to put away the garbage and once again develop a craving for the pure milk of the Word. We need to break our Spiritual Junk Food Addiction.

You Once Had A Healthy Appetite.

1 Peter 2:3 KJV

If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament 8. The Believer-Priest’s Spiritual Food (2:1–5)

The “if” is a fulfilled condition. They as newborn babes had tasted the Word of God, and had found in it that the Lord was gracious. The word “gracious” is the translation of a Greek word used in Luke 5:39 where it is translated “better.” The word means literally, “excellent.”

 • Remember the Convicting Power of the Word

 • Remember the Enlightening power of the Word.

 • Remember when you used to get truths you could use from preaching and teaching.

 • You once had a taste for grace.

Get Rid of the Junk Food that Has Spoiled Your Spiritual Appetite.

1 Corinthians 3:1–3 KJV

And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 

I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 

For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

1 Peter 2:1 KJV

Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament 8. The Believer-Priest’s Spiritual Food (2:1–5)

“WHEREFORE” goes back to the fact of the new life imparted (1:23), and argues in 2:1–3 that therefore a new kind of experience is demanded of the believer. “Laying aside” is from a participle that has imperative force. In view of the fact that divine life has been imparted to the believer, it is imperative that he “put away once for all” any sins that may be in his life. The preposition prefixed to the verb implies separation. The believer is commanded to separate himself from sin. This act of separating himself from sin must be a once for all action, as the tense of the participle suggests. There must be a complete right-about face.

 • Malice = any kind of wickedness

 • Guile = “To catch with bait” – Craftiness

 • Hypocrisies – judgement from behind a mask- the true identity of the person is covered up… impersonation or deception

• Envy – Jealousy

 • Evil Speakings = speaking down – the act of defaming or slandering

Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament 8. The Believer-Priest’s Spiritual Food (2:1–5)

Peter then singles out five sins that the recipients of this letter were guilty of. The Greek word translated “malice” refers to any kind of wickedness. “Guile” is the translation of a word which in its verb form means “to catch with bait,” and in the noun which Peter uses means “craftiness.” The word “hypocrisies” is the transliteration of the Greek word hupokriseis (??????????) which means literally “to judge under,” as a person giving off his judgment from behind a screen or mask. The true identity of the person is covered up. It refers to acts of impersonation or deception. It was used of an actor on the Greek stage. Taken over into the New Testament, it referred to a person we call a hypocrite, one who assumes the mannerisms, speech, and character of someone else, thus hiding his true identity. Christianity requires that believers should be open and above-board. They should be themselves. Their lives should be like an open book, easily read. The word “evil speakings” are in the Greek text “speaking down” a person, referring to the act of defaming, slandering, speaking against another.

Develop a Healthy Craving For The Word.

1 Peter 2:2 KJV

As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament 8. The Believer-Priest’s Spiritual Food (2:1–5)

“Newborn babes” is from the Greek word brephos (??????), used only here in the New Testament in its metaphorical sense. Luke uses it (2:16) of the babe in the manger. In classical Greek it was used of a babe at the breast. Peter probably took the figure from Isaiah 28:9, “Whom will he teach knowledge? Them that are weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts.” The recipients of this letter are called just-born infants, speaking of the recency of the Christian life in their case.

Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament 8. The Believer-Priest’s Spiritual Food (2:1–5)

The Greek word translated “desire” speaks of an intense yearning. That which they are exhorted to have is an intense yearning for milk. The word “sincere” is from the same Greek word translated in 2:1, “guile,” but with the Greek letter Alpha prefixed which makes the word mean the opposite to what it meant before. It is guileless milk, thus unadulterated. It has nothing added to it. The Word of God has no ulterior motives like so many human teachings, but has for its only purpose that of nourishing the soul

Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament 8. The Believer-Priest’s Spiritual Food (2:1–5)

 The word “milk” here does not refer to that part of the Word of God which is in contrast to the meat or solid food of the Word as in Hebrews 5:13, 14, but to the Word of God in general. The words “that ye may grow thereby” could also be rendered “in order that ye might be nourished up.” There is a phrase in the Greek text not brought out in the translation, “resulting in your making progress in your salvation.”

Wuest’s Word Studies in the Greek New Testament 8. The Believer-Priest’s Spiritual Food (2:1–5)

The prerequisite to the act of intensely yearning for the Word of God is the act of once for all putting sin out of our lives. Sin in the life destroys the appetite for the Word. The Christian who tries to find satisfaction in the husks of the world, has no appetite left for the things of God. His heart is filled with the former and has no room for the latter. A healthy infant is a hungry infant. A spiritually healthy Christian is a hungry Christian. This solves the problem of why so many children of God have so little love for the Word.

Once you have broken the addiction to spiritual junk food, you will be able to re-train your appetite for Healthy Food found in the Word of God.

 A man in Kansas City was severely injured in an explosion. Evangelist Robert L. Sumner tells about him in his book The Wonders of the Word of God. The victim’s face was badly disfigured, and he lost his eyesight as well as both hands. He was just a new Christian, and one of his greatest disappointments was that he could no longer read the Bible.

 Then he heard about a lady in England who read Braille with her lips. Hoping to do the same, he sent for some books of the Bible in Braille. Much to his dismay, however, he discovered that the nerve endings in his lips had been destroyed by the explosion. One day, as he brought one of the Braille pages to his lips, his tongue happened to touch a few of the raised characters and he could feel them. Like a flash he thought, I can read the Bible using my tongue. At the time Robert Sumner wrote his book, the man had “read” through the entire Bible four times.

 How many of you can say you’ve read through the Bible four times—with two good eyes? This man had a craving—and even losing his eyesight wouldn’t prevent him from reading God’s Word.

Source: From a sermon by Larry Wise, Craving Soul Food, 2/24/2010

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 4:49 PM April 1, 2020.

Next Level Love

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner. / Agape; Love; Power / 1 Peter 1:22–25

John 15:13 KJV

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Various persons have observed that no one has any more religion than he or she can demonstrate in an emergency. This was certainly true of Arland D. Williams, Jr., a bank examiner with the Federal Reserve System in Atlanta, who was aboard the ill-fated Boeing 737 that crashed in the frigid Potomac River shortly after taking off from Washington’s National Airport, January 13, 1982.

Identification of the hero was announced in June of 1983. Representatives from the Coast Guard said when a helicopter lowered a line to survivors, Williams indicated he was trapped (it was later discovered his seat belt was jammed) and passed “the line on to other injured persons.” By his not grabbing the rescue line, thus saving valuable time, other passengers were saved.

In presenting the medal to Williams’s mother, Virginia L. Williams, Mattoon, Illinois, his teenage son, Arland D. Williams, III, and daughter, Leslie Ann Williams, President Reagan said: “You can live with tremendous pride in your father.” (Read John 15:13).1

1 G. Curtis Jones, 1000 Illustrations for Preaching and Teaching (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1986), 49.

How does one cultivate the unnatural act of selfless love? Sure we know that Christians should love selflessly, but how can we reprogram our minds to have that kind of self sacrificial love?

We have been studying 1 Peter chapter 1 and discovering that we believers in Jesus are sojourners. We are called by a higher calling, to an inheritance that is reserved, guarded by God Himself.  

We saw that since we were redeemed with the Blood of Jesus we should live as stewards of that salvation.

Tonight we discover that since we have been Born Again, by the Power of the Word of God, we need to take our love to the next level.

(Show the two words for Love in 1 Peter 1:22)

Brotherly Love Is A Natural Result of Salvation.

1 Peter 1:22 KJV

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

You have already purified your souls through obedience.

James 4:8 KJV

Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.

1 John 3:3 KJV

And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.

 In Old Testament purity laws, people purified themselves from defilement by ceremonial bathing; although Judaism continued to practice literal ceremonial washings, it often used the image of washing figuratively for spiritual or moral purification (as occasionally in Old Testament prophets, e.g., Is 1:16; Jer 2:22; 4:14).1

1 Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 1 Pe 1:22.

 The words “have purified” are from a perfect tense verb in the Greek. That is, a past completed process, that of a consistent, habitual obedience to the Word, had resulted in the purifying of their souls as they obeyed, with the result that their souls were in a present state of purification. They also rectified an existing evil practice in their lives, that of a hypocritical affection for their Christian brethren. The lesson for us is that when we obey God’s Word, our heart-life is being purified, and this purification puts sin out of our experience.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 47.

Brotherly Love is a Natural Response to this Obedience.

1 Thessalonians 3:12 KJV

And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you:

The recipients of this letter had purified their souls with the result that they came to love their Christian brethren with an unfeigned love, the implication being clear that at one time these Christians were guilty of feigning love for certain of their brothers in Christ. The word “unfeigned” is the translation of the Greek word from which we get our word “hypocrite,” with the letter Alpha prefixed which makes it mean “not a hypocrite.” The Greek word for “hypocrite” was used of an actor on the Greek stage, one who played the part of another. The word means literally, “to judge under,” and was used of someone giving off his judgment from behind a screen or mask. Some of these to whom Peter was writing, had put a mask of feigned love over their usual countenances when associating with certain others of their brethren.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 45.

Believers are Commanded to Practice Agape Love without Hypocrisy.

1 Peter 1:22

…see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

 To those who were now loving their brethren in the sense of a fondness and affection for them, God gives the exhortation, “See that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.” The question arises, “Why does God exhort those to love one another who are already loving one another?” The answer is found in the use of another distinctive word for “love,” agape (?????), which Peter uses. This word speaks of a love which in its classical usage refers to a love called out of one’s heart by the preciousness of the person loved, which usage is carried over into the New Testament, but which word has an additional content of meaning poured into it by the way it is used in certain contexts such as John 3:16, where the idea of self-sacrifice for the benefit of the person loved is added to its classical meaning, I Corinthians 13, where the constituent elements of its Biblical usage are listed, and I John 4:8, where it is said to refer to the love that God is.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 47.

Pure Love Comes From The Pure Word

1 Peter 1:23–24 KJV

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. 

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

John 15:12 KJV

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

John 13:34 KJV

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Born Again Through an Incorruptible Word

 • God has protected His word from corruption.

 • Your salvation is based on that perfect word.

 • All other flesh fades and dies… the Bible you based your faith on remains perfect.

Isaiah 40:6–8 KJV

The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, And all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field: 

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: Because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: Surely the people is grass. 

The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: But the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Psalm 12:6–7 KJV

The words of the LORD are pure words: As silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. 

Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, Thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever.

Agape Love Comes From The Everlasting Word

1 Peter 1:25 KJV

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.

Psalm 119:89 KJV

LAMED. For ever, O LORD, Thy word is settled in heaven.

Because your salvation comes from an everlasting Word, you can have everlasting love.

1 Corinthians 13:7–8 KJV

Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away.

Selflessness is an art. By nature none of us are really into it nor do we really aim to master it. It requires a change in us, something that puts away the old nature of selfishness and takes on a new nature of selflessness. Our nature is to keep “us” for us. Or, at the very least, share some but keep some. But, like that carbonated drink, sharing implies using, not retaining. To truly deny oneself, to die to oneself, requires an all or nothing effort.

In Ernest Gordon’s true account of life in a World War II Japanese prison camp, Through the Valley of the Kwai, there is a story that never fails to move me. It is about a man who through giving it all away literally transformed a whole camp of soldiers. The man’s name was Angus McGillivray. Angus was a Scottish prisoner in one of the camps filled with Americans, Australians, and Britons who had helped build the infamous Bridge over the River Kwai. The camp had become an ugly situation. A dog-eat-dog mentality had set in. Allies would literally steal from each other and cheat each other; men would sleep on their packs and yet have them stolen from under their heads. Survival was everything. The law of the jungle prevailed…until the news of Angus McGillivray’s death spread throughout the camp. Rumors spread in the wake of his death. No one could believe big Angus had succumbed. He was strong, one of those whom they had expected to be the last to die. Actually, it wasn’t the fact of his death that shocked the men, but the reason he died. Finally they pieced together the true story.

The Argylls (Scottish soldiers) took their buddy system very seriously. Their buddy was called their “mucker,” and these Argylls believed that is was literally up to each of them to make sure their “mucker” survived. Angus’s mucker, though, was dying, and everyone had given up on him, everyone, of course, but Angus. He had made up his mind that his friend would not die. Someone had stolen his mucker’s blanket. So Angus gave him his own, telling his mucker that he had “just come across an extra one.” Likewise, every mealtime, Angus would get his rations and take them to his friend, stand over him and force him to eat them, again stating that he was able to get “extra food.” Angus was going to do anything and everything to see that his buddy got what he needed to recover.

But as Angus’s mucker began to recover, Angus collapsed, slumped over, and died. The doctors discovered that he had died of starvation complicated by exhaustion. He had been giving of his own food and shelter. He had given everything he had — even his very life. The ramifications of his acts of love and unselfishness had a startling impact on the compound.

As word circulated of the reason for Angus McGillivray’s death, the feel of the camp began to change. Suddenly, men began to focus on their mates, their friends, and humanity of living beyond survival, of giving oneself away. They began to pool their talents — one was a violin maker, another an orchestra leader, another a cabinet maker, another a professor. Soon the camp had an orchestra full of homemade instruments and a church called the “Church Without Walls” that was so powerful, so compelling, that even the Japanese guards attended. The men began a university, a hospital, and a library system. The place was transformed; an all but smothered love revived, all because one man named Angus gave all he had for his friend. For many of those men this turnaround meant survival. What happened is an awesome illustration of the potential unleashed when one person actually gives it all away. (Tim Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987, Word Books Publisher, pp. 146-147.)

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 3:38 PM March 25, 2020.

Show Some Respect

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner / The Fear of the Lord; Indifferent / 1 Peter 1:17–21

In a speech made in 1863, Abraham Lincoln said, “We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth, and power as no other nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.”

Believers today take for granted the Salvation that they enjoy. We often do not take the time to realize how undeserving of grace we are, how much our salvation cost, and how we came to believe in God in the first place. We need to step back and realize the gravity of our former condition and the splendor of our future.  

In our passage this evening we read Peter’s words of encouragement to the early sojourners. In order for them to understand their position of love and grace even during difficult times, they needed to see what God did in order to save them. They needed to show some respect.

Show Some Respect = Sojourn in Fear.

1 Peter 1:17 KJV

And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

 Peter says he is to do this in fear. This fear has been defined as follows: “This fear is self-distrust; it is tenderness of conscience; it is vigilance against temptation; it is the fear which inspiration opposes to highmindedness in the admonition, ‘be not high-minded but fear.’ It is taking heed lest we fall; it is a constant apprehension of the deceitfulness of the heart, and of the insidiousness and power of inward corruption. It is the caution and circumspection which timidly shrinks from whatever would offend and dishonor God and the Saviour” (Vincent, quoting Wardlaw On Proverbs).1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 41–42.

Show Some Respect Because God Sees All

1 Peter 1:17 KJV

And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:

 Peter describes Him as being One “who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work.” The words “without respect of persons” are the translation of one word in Greek which means literally, “does not receive face.” That is, God does not receive anybody’s face. He is impartial. Outward appearance, wealth, culture, social position, family background, education, beauty, intellect, all things that more or less sway the opinions of man, do not count with God when it comes to appraising a person’s character or worthiness. “The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” 

 1 Samuel 16:7 KJV

 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

God, Peter says, judges each man’s work with impartiality. And yet we are not to understand that He is a critical judge trying always to find a defect or flaw in our conduct or service. The Greek word is found oftener in a good than in a bad sense. That is, God’s impartiality is an honest appraisal of things, while His heart is always with His child and goes out to him in a spirit of love. That is beautifully brought out in the use of a particular Greek word in I Corinthians 3:13, which verse and its context refer to the judgment of the believer’s works at the Judgment Seat of Christ. 

 1 Corinthians 3:13 KJV

 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.

There are two Greek words which mean “to put to the test,” one meaning “to put to the test in order to discover what evil or good there may be in a person,” the other, “to put to the test in order to sanction or approve the good one finds in that person.” The latter is used in our verse. God expects to find in the life of each saint that upon which He can put His approval, for the Holy Spirit produces good works in all the saints, more in those who are definitely subjected to His control.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 40–41.

Sojourn in Fear Because Of Your Redemption

Not with Idols or Physical Things

1 Peter 1:18 KJV

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

A little boy went up to a missionary Sunday School leader in a pagan country. The boy said, “I like what you say about the God of the Bible but I can’t see him. But if I go to the temple I can see my God.”

The missionary said to the little boy, “Listen, does your God bleed?”

The boy said, “I don’t know.”

The missionary gave him a pin and said, “Next time you go to the temple, when no one else is watching, prick him and see what happens.”

The following week the boy returned to his Sunday School class. He said to the missionary, “I did it, I did it, I pricked the idol.”

The missionary said, “And what happened?”

The boy replied, “Nothing, my god doesn’t bleed.”

Straight away the missionary said, “But my God did! He bled for me and he bled for you!”

Redeemed By the Blood

1 Peter 1:19–20 KJV

But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: 

Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,

Acts 20:28 KJV

Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

“It cost God nothing, as far as we know, to create nice things, but to convert our rebellious wills, it cost Him crucifixion.” C.S. Lewis

Show Some Respect Because of Your Belief

1 Peter 1:21 KJV

Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

Jesus introduced you to the True God

Jesus Demonstrated Power in the Resurrection

Jesus Gave you hope and assurance of salvation and of Truth.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 12:39 PM March 4, 2020.

Christian Fashion Sense

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complicated Life of a Sojourner / Sanctification; Conversion; Holiness / 1 Peter 1:13–16

What kind of fashion sense do you have? This question may gender several interesting reactions. First of all some may say, 

“Pastor, with all the crazy stuff you wear from time to time, who in the world are you to ask us about our fashion sense?”

If we were talking about clothing, tie dyes, or dashiki shirts, you would have a valid point. However, our passage this evening talks about how we fashion ourselves. This term speaks metaphorically about how we fashion, or pattern our attitudes, thoughts, and actions. Tonight we are going to learn, that especially when we are facing trials and pressure, we must have good Christian Fashion Sense.

Godly Fashion Starts With The Mind.

1 Peter 1:13 KJV

Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

 • Gird up your loins, prepare for work or battle

It is not physical exertion that Peter has in mind here, but mental. If the purpose of girding up the clothing was to put out of the way that which would impede the physical progress of an individual, the girding up of the loins of the mind would be the putting out of the mind all that would impede the free action of the mind in connection with the onward progress of the Christian experience, things such as worry, fear, jealousy, hate, unforgiveness, impurity. These things harbored in the mind prevent the Holy Spirit from using the mental faculties of the Christian in the most efficient manner, and thus from causing that believer to grow in the Christian life and make progress in his salvation. The word “to gird up” is in the aorist tense which refers to a past once-for-all act. Bringing this oriental expression over to the occidental manner of thinking, enables us to translate, “Wherefore, having put out of the way, once for all, everything that would impede the free action of your mind

 • Be sober

The first one is, “be sober.” The Greek word means, “to be calm and collected in spirit, to be temperate, dispassionate, circumspect.” It speaks of the proper exercise of the mind, that state of mind in which the individual is self-controlled, and is able to see things without the distortion caused by worry, fear, and their related attitudes.1

 • Hope to the end

 The second admonition is, “hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” The words, “hope to the end,” do not refer to the Christian living in a state of hopefulness to the end of his life. The word “end” is the translation of teleios (???????) which means “perfectly, completely.” The root idea of the word refers to that which is in a state of completeness. Thus this adverb qualifies the verb “hope” and describes this hope. It is to be a hope that is complete, a perfect hope, wanting nothing, being in its character an assured expectation. One could translate, “set your hope perfectly, unchangeably, without doubt and despondency.

Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 37.

Godly Fashion Sets Aside the Past

1 Peter 1:14 KJV

As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:

 • Fashion=

 In our characters as obedient children of God, we are exhorted not to fashion ourselves with respect to our former lusts. The word “fashion” in the Greek text refers to the act of assuming an outward appearance patterned after some certain thing, an appearance or expression which does not come from and is not representative of one’s inmost and true nature. It refers here to the act of a child of God assuming as an outward expression the habits, mannerisms, dress, speech expressions, and behavior of the world out from which God saved him, thus not giving a true expression of what he is, a cleansed, regenerated child of God, but instead, hiding the Lord Jesus who should be seen in the life of the Christian. It is the believer masquerading in the costume of the world.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 37.

 • Avoid the old lusts

1 Peter 2:11 KJV

Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

 • Avoid the old ignorance… you know better

 Back in 1980 New York City Mayor Ed Koch appeared on a local news program in the middle of the city’s financial crisis. Koch had spent over a quarter of a million dollars to put up bike lanes in Manhattan, and they turned out to be a disaster. Cars were driving in the bike lanes, pedestrians were walking in the them, and bikers were getting crowded out. It was a mess and many people in New York were irate about it.

 Koch was coming up for re-election, so a handful of journalists cornered him on this show, planning to tear him to pieces for spending money foolishly when the city was nearly broke. One reporter said, “Mayor, in light of the financial difficulties New York City is facing, how could you possibly justify wasting $300,000 on bike lanes?”

 The stage was set for a half-hour confrontation. Instead, Koch said, “It was a terrible idea. I thought it would work, but it didn’t. It was one of the worst mistakes I ever made.” Then he stopped. None of the other journalists knew what to say or do. They were expecting him to squirm and make excuses, but he didn’t even try.

 The next journalist stammered and said, “But Mayor Koch, how could you do this?”

 Koch said, “I already told you. It was a stupid idea. It didn’t work.” Then he stopped.

 There was still 26 minutes left to go on the news show, and the reporters had to find something else to talk about.

 Because he was willing to accept that it was wrong… he won both Democratic AND Republican support.

 When we acknowledge that certain things are wrong in our lives, and we determine not to live like that anymore then we get something far more important than the support of Democrats or Republicans. We get God’s support. And we get that support because we’ve determined to live HOLY lives. Lives that have been “set apart” with no excuses.

From a sermon by Jeff Strite, B Imitators, 11/1/2009

Godly Fashion Embraces Your Calling

1 Peter 1:15–16 KJV

But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; 

Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

 Those who at one time were wholly controlled by their evil cravings, had through salvation entered into a new state of being, that of inward holiness, by virtue of the residence in them of the Holy Spirit, and now they were to see to it that that inward holiness found outward expression in their lives.1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 37–38.

 The word “holy” in Greek means literally, “set apart.” Thus, a holy person is one set apart from sin to righteousness. It has in it the idea of separation. Thus it is a separated life of which Peter is speaking1

1 Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies from the Greek New Testament: For the English Reader, vol. 11 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997), 38.

 Can you imagine what it was like for the church in Smyrna as they watched their beloved and aged pastor burn at the stake? Polycarp was his name. he was a disciple of Jesus’ disciple, the Apostle John. One could tell it immediately because he possessed the same tenderness and compassion as his mentor.

 Polycarp was Bishop of the church at Smyrna (present day Turkey). Persecution broke out in Smyrna and many Christians were fed to the wild beasts in the arena. The godless and bloodthirsty crowd called for the carcass of the leader – Polycarp.

 The authorities sent a search party to find him. He had been taken into hiding for some Christians but the Romans tortured two young believers until they finally disclosed his location. When the authorities arrival was announced there was still time to whisk Polycarp away but he refused to go saying, “God’s will be done.”

 In one of the most touching instances of Christian grace imaginable Polycarp welcome his captors as if they were friends. He talked with them and insisted they eat a meal. Ha made only one request before being taken away – he asked for one hour to pray. The Roman soldiers listened to his prayer. Their hearts melted and they gave him 2 hours to pray. They had second thoughts as well and were overheard asking each other why they were sent to arrest him?

 Other authorities also experienced a warmed heart when Polycarp arrived. The Proconsul tried to find a way to release him too. “curse God and I will let you go!” he pleaded.

 Polycarp’s reply was: “For eighty-six years I have served him. He has never done me wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King was has saved me?”

 The Proconsul again looked for a way out. “The do this old man, just swear by the spirit of the emperor and that will be sufficient.’

 Polycarp’s reply was: “If you imagine for a moment that I would do that, then I think you pretend that you don’t know who I am. Hear it plainly. I am a Christian.”

 More entreaties by the Proconsul

 Polycarp stood firm.

 The proconsul threatened with the wild beasts.

 Polycarp’s reply was: “Bring them forth. I would change my mind if it meant going from worst to best, but not to change from right to wrong.”

 The Proconsul threatened, “I will burn you alive!”

 Polycarp’s reply was: “You threaten with fire that burns for an hour and is over but the judgment on the ungodly is forever.”

 The fires engulfed him. The witnesses noticed his faith and joy. He was finished off with a dagger. He was buried for the cause of Christ on February 22, 155 A.D.

 It was as much a day of victory as it was a day of tragedy.

 Polycarp illustrated the power of knowing Jesus intimately. Intimately enough to follow Him into the flames.

Exported from Logos Bible Software, 1:11 PM February 26, 2020.

Grace For Today

Pastor Don Carpenter / General

Not From Around Here: The Complecated Life of a Sojourner / Revelation; Bible; Prophecy; Messianic Age; Pilgrimage of Grace / 1 Peter 1:10–12

We speak of God’s progressive revelation. This does not mean God began to reveal Himself crudely and learned to do a better job as He went along. Genesis is as much His revelation as is John. Progressive revelation means God revealed Himself progressively to people as they were able to grasp and understand Him. Thus we have a clearer revelation of God in John than in Genesis, but the same God is revealed in both books.

How would Einstein teach arithmetic to a small child? He would not start out with the equation for the theory of relativity or for splitting the atom. He would begin with two plus two equals four. That is not all the arithmetic he knows; but that is as much as the child can grasp. Years later he would teach the child, now an adult, about complex theories. This is also how God revealed Himself to humanity. He did not reveal everything about Himself at one time. He did it gradually.

_______

Often I hear folks lament over the fact that we were not there during Bible times. How much easier it would have been to believe if we had been there when Moses threw down a stick and it became a snake. If we had seen fire fall from heaven as God demonstrated his power in answer to Elijah’s prayer .It would have been easy to believe if we had seen the 5000 fed with a few loaves and fish, or watched Lazarus waddle out of the grave at Jesus’ command. If we still got direct revelation during church services like the folks at Corinth did… then it would have been much easier to believe and live the Christian life.

The dispersed and persecuted Jewish Christians were not eye witnesses of Jesus’ miracles. They certainly were not around during the powerful demonstrations of the Old Testament Prophets. They desperately needed God’s truth to sustain them during the difficult times in which they lived. In our passage today Peter continues to expound upon the great Grace and Salvation that these folks are partakers of the living hope. Tonight we see that this living hope springs not only from the believer’s future inheritance, and present experience but also from their faith in God’s Written Word. It is in that very Word right now in this age that we can find Grace for Today.

Revelation of Grace Was Partial.

1 Peter 1:9–10 KJV

Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 

Of which salvation the prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:

 In 1 Peter 1:10–12 the apostle gave a practical illustration of the doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture he clearly stated in 2 Peter 1:20–21. The prophets did not fully understand all that the Holy Spirit had authored through them1

1 Roger M. Raymer, “1 Peter,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 2 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 842.

1 Corinthians 13:8–10 KJV

Charity never faileth: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 

For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. 

But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

Revelation 22:18–19 KJV

For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

We are living in glorious times because the written revelation is completed and therefore we can understand the prophecies in light of the completed Bible.

Revelation of Grace Was About Christ

1 Peter 1:11 KJV

Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

 • The Timing

Daniel 9:25–27 KJV

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. 

And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. 

And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.

 • The Crucifixion

Isaiah 53:3–7 KJV

He is despised and rejected of men; A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: And we hid as it were our faces from him; He was despised, and we esteemed him not. 

Surely he hath borne our griefs, And carried our sorrows: Yet we did esteem him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 

But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed. 

All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned every one to his own way; And the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth.

The Glorification – Isaiah 11

Isaiah 11:4–6 KJV

But with righteousness shall he judge the poor, And reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: And he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, And with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked. 

And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness the girdle of his reins. 

The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, And the leopard shall lie down with the kid; And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them.

The Revelation of Grace Was For Our Time!

1 Peter 1:11 KJV

Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.

Acts 2:14–21 KJV

But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 

For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 

But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 

And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: 

And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy: 

And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke: 

The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come: 

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

   A janitor would wait patiently each week for a group of seminarians to finish their basketball game. While he waited, he would study his Bible. One day, as the seminarians were leaving the gym, they noticed the janitor carefully reading the text in his lap. One young man asked which biblical book was the subject of the janitor’s study. The old man answered, “The Book of Revelation.” The ballplayer was surprised and asked the janitor if he understood the complicated book. “Oh, yes!” the man answered. “I understand it. It means that Jesus is gonna win!”

  And that is a most accurate analysis of the Book of Revelation!

1 Michael P. Green, 1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2000), 434–435.

These prophecies were for our time… for those of us who came after Calvary. For those of us who can hold the written word of God in your hands, filled with the Holy Spirit given to those who believe during this church age. There is no better time to be a believer! We can read, and understand… we had better read and live because in these ancient texts, we have Grace for today.