1 00:00:03,660 --> 00:00:05,689 Speaker: Well, that was a waste of time. 2 00:00:06,709 --> 00:00:08,399 Not that, but do you ever think that? 3 00:00:08,399 --> 00:00:09,219 Do you ever feel that? 4 00:00:09,219 --> 00:00:11,560 Do you ever do anything that you just sit there and you think to yourself, 5 00:00:12,040 --> 00:00:14,269 "That was a massive waste of time"? 6 00:00:16,129 --> 00:00:19,430 Maybe you've built Legos before or Lego. 7 00:00:19,430 --> 00:00:22,090 Apparently, there's no such thing as Legos, 'cause Lego is both 8 00:00:22,090 --> 00:00:26,110 individual and plural, which is just mind-numbingly frustrating to me. 9 00:00:27,420 --> 00:00:31,830 But you've built Lego before and, and, and y- you get all the way to, towards 10 00:00:31,830 --> 00:00:33,959 the end of the book, and then all of a sudden you're supposed to do a piece, 11 00:00:33,959 --> 00:00:35,930 and you're supposed to put something together, and you look at it and you 12 00:00:35,930 --> 00:00:38,060 go, "This is, this is not Lego-ing. 13 00:00:38,939 --> 00:00:40,049 The pieces are not piecing. 14 00:00:40,500 --> 00:00:41,060 Why?" 15 00:00:41,270 --> 00:00:44,759 And then you realize that you missed a step or you made a mistake 16 00:00:45,150 --> 00:00:46,529 30 pages back in the booklet. 17 00:00:47,709 --> 00:00:49,910 That's, that's a, a waste of time, right? 18 00:00:49,910 --> 00:00:52,729 You have to undo everything to get back to where you were and start over again. 19 00:00:52,729 --> 00:00:57,299 Or, or maybe, uh, you are like me and you go and you do a workout, but 20 00:00:57,299 --> 00:01:00,860 you don't start it on your watch, and then afterwards you think, 21 00:01:00,860 --> 00:01:01,750 "Well, that was a waste of time. 22 00:01:01,750 --> 00:01:04,328 It didn't even count because my rings didn't close because I didn't 23 00:01:04,328 --> 00:01:05,479 tell it that I was working out." 24 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:11,410 Or maybe, uh, you've had a situation, uh, where you've gone the wrong 25 00:01:11,410 --> 00:01:12,570 way and had to turn around. 26 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,429 I remember there was a, a retreat that I led with our, our college ministry back 27 00:01:16,429 --> 00:01:20,490 in California where we went up to Big Bear, and it was the, the winter retreat, 28 00:01:20,490 --> 00:01:22,829 so it was snowy up in Big Bear there. 29 00:01:22,829 --> 00:01:25,460 And, uh, to get up, you can go one of two ways. 30 00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:28,770 Well, one of the ways was closed and, and we found that out ahead of time, and we 31 00:01:28,770 --> 00:01:33,130 sent an email out to all of our leaders and said, "Hey, this way is closed. 32 00:01:33,369 --> 00:01:34,570 Don't go that way." 33 00:01:35,030 --> 00:01:38,549 Uh, and, and most of our leaders got that email and read it. 34 00:01:38,549 --> 00:01:39,189 Let me rephrase that. 35 00:01:39,229 --> 00:01:40,479 All of our leaders got that email. 36 00:01:40,710 --> 00:01:42,369 Most of our leaders read that email. 37 00:01:42,789 --> 00:01:45,520 O- one of them in particular, who had two of our other leaders in the car 38 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,369 with him, decided to go the wrong way. 39 00:01:48,039 --> 00:01:52,820 And so two hours later, after putting on snow chains and taking off snow 40 00:01:52,820 --> 00:01:56,179 chains and putting them back on and taking them off again, he got to the 41 00:01:56,179 --> 00:02:01,410 place where the road was closed, and they said, "You can't get through here." 42 00:02:02,149 --> 00:02:06,649 And so not only did he go two hours that direction, but he had to drive 43 00:02:06,649 --> 00:02:11,320 two hours back to where he started and then go two hours the other way to 44 00:02:11,320 --> 00:02:12,799 get back up to where the retreat was. 45 00:02:13,770 --> 00:02:15,760 That is a waste of time. 46 00:02:17,160 --> 00:02:20,230 We've been in 1 Peter for 30 Sundays. 47 00:02:20,990 --> 00:02:21,740 Not consecutively. 48 00:02:21,740 --> 00:02:23,809 We've taken a break for Christmas and some other things here 49 00:02:23,809 --> 00:02:27,680 and there, but 30 Sundays in 1 Peter, 30 sermons from 1 Peter. 50 00:02:27,680 --> 00:02:30,620 That's seven and a half months of our year. 51 00:02:32,139 --> 00:02:35,160 The question I want us to ponder this morning as we end our study 52 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,049 of 1 Peter, how do we make sure that this wasn't a waste of time? 53 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:40,730 What do you do with this book? 54 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,439 What should the impact of our study of 1 Peter be? 55 00:02:44,079 --> 00:02:46,540 How do you make sure that you haven't spent seven and a half months, if 56 00:02:46,540 --> 00:02:50,049 you've been with us the whole time, 30 Sundays listening to preaching 57 00:02:50,049 --> 00:02:52,299 that in the end isn't really gonna do anything in your life? 58 00:02:53,100 --> 00:02:56,609 How can you make sure not to waste our study of 1 Peter? 59 00:02:58,290 --> 00:03:02,310 I think First Peter, as Peter ends the letter, is gonna encourage us and exhort 60 00:03:02,310 --> 00:03:05,210 us to say that i-if you wanna make sure that First Peter counts in your life, 61 00:03:06,059 --> 00:03:08,960 then it's gonna involve your conviction, it's gonna involve your humility, 62 00:03:09,179 --> 00:03:10,200 and it's gonna involve your love. 63 00:03:11,478 --> 00:03:13,429 Your conviction, your humility, and your love. 64 00:03:14,480 --> 00:03:16,439 So we're gonna begin in First Peter chapter five, verse 12, 65 00:03:16,439 --> 00:03:17,730 as Peter is landing the plane. 66 00:03:17,730 --> 00:03:21,529 And, and I know how it can be when you come to the end of a, of an epistle 67 00:03:21,529 --> 00:03:23,470 especially, and you start to read names. 68 00:03:23,769 --> 00:03:26,529 You can almost get into the genealogy mode of reading the Bible. 69 00:03:26,529 --> 00:03:29,159 It's like, "Okay, I know this is God's Word, I know it's inspired, 70 00:03:29,159 --> 00:03:32,040 I know it's got authority, but these are just kinda the, the, 71 00:03:32,179 --> 00:03:33,540 the throwaway part of the letter. 72 00:03:33,540 --> 00:03:35,679 He's just talking personal stuff at the end of the letter. 73 00:03:35,679 --> 00:03:36,850 This isn't really for me." 74 00:03:37,519 --> 00:03:40,429 And I wanna encourage you, if, if you're there, don't be there. 75 00:03:40,560 --> 00:03:43,510 I wanna encourage you to, to lean in to the end of this letter, because Peter 76 00:03:43,510 --> 00:03:46,450 has some profound things to say to us that really helps us, again, frame the 77 00:03:46,450 --> 00:03:49,069 rest of the letter to say, "How do I make sure that I don't waste First Peter? 78 00:03:49,510 --> 00:03:52,339 That it has the intended impact on my life that God wants it to have in my life?" 79 00:03:52,929 --> 00:03:57,600 So First Peter 5 verse 12 says, "By Silvanus, a faithful brother as I 80 00:03:57,600 --> 00:04:01,439 regard him, I've written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring 81 00:04:01,439 --> 00:04:04,320 that this is the true grace of God. 82 00:04:04,570 --> 00:04:06,130 Stand firm in it." 83 00:04:07,719 --> 00:04:10,439 My guess is for most of you out here in the room, you probably write your 84 00:04:10,439 --> 00:04:13,930 own emails, although maybe today you have Claude write your emails for you. 85 00:04:14,549 --> 00:04:17,289 Uh, but you usually do your own correspondence. 86 00:04:17,339 --> 00:04:21,180 Uh, you typically don't dictate your, your letters or your emails. 87 00:04:21,500 --> 00:04:23,789 Uh, you ha- you sit down and you type it out yourself or 88 00:04:23,789 --> 00:04:25,060 you write a letter yourself. 89 00:04:25,350 --> 00:04:26,990 Uh, that hasn't always been the case. 90 00:04:26,990 --> 00:04:29,719 In fact, during the New Testament era, what was more common than 91 00:04:29,719 --> 00:04:32,839 not was that somebody would have somebody else write on their behalf. 92 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:37,680 That person was called an amanuensis, and an amanuensis was somebody who 93 00:04:37,680 --> 00:04:42,950 was a, not a ghostwriter, because they were typically writing on the, at 94 00:04:42,950 --> 00:04:44,350 the, the behest of the other person. 95 00:04:44,350 --> 00:04:49,780 So Peter would've employed Silvanus here to be his amanuensis, his writer. 96 00:04:50,060 --> 00:04:52,820 And so he says that here in the text, "By Silvanus, a faithful brother 97 00:04:52,820 --> 00:04:54,339 as I regard him, I have written." 98 00:04:54,339 --> 00:04:55,810 So I've written by him. 99 00:04:56,280 --> 00:05:00,089 Some question whether or not Silvanus was the writer or just the courier. 100 00:05:00,089 --> 00:05:02,430 We're gonna get to the courier ca- capacity here in a minute. 101 00:05:02,820 --> 00:05:06,289 But I, a lot of people believe that Silvanus was the one that put pen to 102 00:05:06,289 --> 00:05:07,700 paper in the letter of First Peter. 103 00:05:08,450 --> 00:05:09,780 Uh, there's some reasons behind that. 104 00:05:09,780 --> 00:05:14,119 The, the Greek, the language in First Peter is pretty high a- and so some 105 00:05:14,119 --> 00:05:16,780 have, have questioned would a Galilean fisherman like Peter have been able to 106 00:05:16,780 --> 00:05:19,690 write with such eloquence as what we find here in the letter of First Peter? 107 00:05:20,220 --> 00:05:22,920 Or would that be more indicative of the fact that he employed somebody else 108 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:26,940 like Silvanus as a, a writer for him, as he dictated these things to him? 109 00:05:27,569 --> 00:05:30,520 Uh, there's reasons why Peter would've used Silvanus beyond that. 110 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:33,250 Number one, just literacy during this time wasn't what it is today. 111 00:05:34,099 --> 00:05:38,940 People weren't nearly as proficient in reading and writing in this culture as you 112 00:05:38,940 --> 00:05:44,164 find today in our society And so literacy was, was r- more rare at this time. 113 00:05:44,164 --> 00:05:47,324 Also, just the cost of writing materials and writing supplies 114 00:05:47,364 --> 00:05:49,265 was, uh, more than it is today. 115 00:05:49,534 --> 00:05:52,295 And so a, a lot of times you would use an amanuensis who had 116 00:05:52,295 --> 00:05:53,795 some of that at his disposal. 117 00:05:54,354 --> 00:05:56,274 Practicality was another element of it. 118 00:05:56,524 --> 00:05:59,995 If somebody knew and did this on the regular, having them write on your 119 00:05:59,995 --> 00:06:03,254 behalf who knew the grammar and knew how to phrase things and knew how 120 00:06:03,254 --> 00:06:05,045 to word things, it just made sense. 121 00:06:05,045 --> 00:06:07,834 It was a little bit more, uh, efficient that way. 122 00:06:07,965 --> 00:06:10,954 And then finally, this was just something that was normative. 123 00:06:10,985 --> 00:06:14,334 It was commonplace, not just within the church and with the, in the letters, 124 00:06:14,334 --> 00:06:20,174 but even men like Cicero and Caesar were known to employ amanuenses. 125 00:06:21,875 --> 00:06:25,014 Uh, Paul did himself, Romans 16:22, he talks about it. 126 00:06:25,205 --> 00:06:27,534 In fact, sometimes at the end of Paul's letters, Paul will say things 127 00:06:27,534 --> 00:06:30,264 like, "Hey, see with what large letters I'm writing to you now." 128 00:06:30,264 --> 00:06:33,125 In other words, Paul is signaling, "I've taken the pen from the person 129 00:06:33,125 --> 00:06:36,654 that I was given the letters by, and now I'm writing these things to you." 130 00:06:37,115 --> 00:06:41,255 What I don't want you to think is that this is not Peter's words, okay? 131 00:06:41,854 --> 00:06:43,165 This is Peter's word. 132 00:06:43,465 --> 00:06:48,135 He's just having Silvanus, it would appear, write it down on his behalf. 133 00:06:49,324 --> 00:06:52,334 The one that wrote the letter, the, the amanuensis, was often also the one that 134 00:06:52,334 --> 00:06:53,514 was tasked with delivering the letter. 135 00:06:53,824 --> 00:06:56,933 And so if you go all the way back to the beginning of 1 Peter, we can be reminded 136 00:06:56,933 --> 00:06:58,534 of those that Peter was writing to. 137 00:06:59,025 --> 00:07:01,794 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of 138 00:07:01,794 --> 00:07:06,184 the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 139 00:07:06,904 --> 00:07:11,254 And so Silvanus would have been tasked with going to these cities, 140 00:07:11,254 --> 00:07:15,135 or at least to the first city, and delivering Peter's letter. 141 00:07:15,794 --> 00:07:18,444 And, and why that matters for us right now and why we should pay 142 00:07:18,444 --> 00:07:21,525 attention to that is the one who delivered the letter was usually also 143 00:07:21,525 --> 00:07:22,875 the first interpreter of the letter. 144 00:07:23,474 --> 00:07:24,544 He was the first commentator. 145 00:07:25,324 --> 00:07:28,025 And so Silvanus would have been entrusted with delivering the letter, 146 00:07:28,025 --> 00:07:31,495 and then as the letter is read to the church there, if the church had 147 00:07:31,495 --> 00:07:35,455 questions of Silvanus, like, "Silvanus, what did he mean by fiery trial? 148 00:07:35,974 --> 00:07:39,525 Uh, Silvanus, w- what was Peter referring to by the devil prowling around like a 149 00:07:39,525 --> 00:07:41,305 roaring lion seeking someone to devour?" 150 00:07:42,014 --> 00:07:45,683 Silvanus would have been entrusted as the one who was intimately acquainted with 151 00:07:45,683 --> 00:07:50,005 the writer, with the, the, the origin of it, to, to be the one to explain 152 00:07:50,005 --> 00:07:52,044 it, to exposit it, to expound upon it. 153 00:07:52,625 --> 00:07:55,933 And so really the first person to preach 1 Peter was probably Silvanus. 154 00:07:56,595 --> 00:07:58,365 And so Silvanus is entrusted with this. 155 00:07:58,365 --> 00:08:00,695 He's sent out by Peter, and that's why Peter mentions him at the end of 156 00:08:00,695 --> 00:08:05,074 the letter, by Silvanus, and he says, "A faithful brother as I regard him." 157 00:08:05,634 --> 00:08:07,774 Peter wanted those listening to this letter to know that 158 00:08:07,774 --> 00:08:08,845 Peter trusted this man. 159 00:08:09,964 --> 00:08:11,054 Who is Silvanus? 160 00:08:11,645 --> 00:08:14,134 You may know him by another name, and that is the name Silas. 161 00:08:14,824 --> 00:08:16,544 Silvanus and Silas, one and the same. 162 00:08:17,244 --> 00:08:18,955 Silvanus was on the missionary journey. 163 00:08:18,955 --> 00:08:21,695 Silas was on the missionary journeys with, with Paul and Timothy. 164 00:08:22,654 --> 00:08:24,945 And so Silvanus was a man that was well-acquainted with the church and 165 00:08:24,945 --> 00:08:26,854 well-acquainted with the doctrine and the teachings of the church. 166 00:08:26,854 --> 00:08:30,005 And so Peter is telling the church there that is receiving the letter, 167 00:08:30,145 --> 00:08:31,794 "Hey, Silvanus is bringing it to you. 168 00:08:31,794 --> 00:08:32,735 I've written by him. 169 00:08:32,945 --> 00:08:33,695 You can trust him. 170 00:08:33,725 --> 00:08:34,654 He's a faithful brother." 171 00:08:35,005 --> 00:08:38,735 And so as Silvanus preached 1 Peter to these audiences as he 172 00:08:38,735 --> 00:08:42,519 delivered it- Peter was wanting them to say, "You can follow him. 173 00:08:42,559 --> 00:08:43,120 You can trust him." 174 00:08:44,510 --> 00:08:47,739 And so he says, "I've, I've written by him," and he says, "I've written briefly 175 00:08:47,739 --> 00:08:53,090 to you by him, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. 176 00:08:53,140 --> 00:08:54,039 Stand firm in it." 177 00:08:54,859 --> 00:08:57,460 He says, "I've exhorted you, and I've declared these things to you." 178 00:08:57,969 --> 00:09:00,790 To exhort is to urge or to implore. 179 00:09:01,290 --> 00:09:02,999 Uh, i- it's to call alongside of... 180 00:09:02,999 --> 00:09:06,190 "I'm, I'm exhorting you to understand that this is the true grace of God." 181 00:09:06,790 --> 00:09:09,389 And he says, "And I've also declared this to you." 182 00:09:09,639 --> 00:09:12,260 It's the word that we get our word for testify. 183 00:09:12,940 --> 00:09:15,250 I am putting my stamp of approval on this. 184 00:09:15,250 --> 00:09:17,239 Peter's saying at the end of the letter, "Everything that I've written 185 00:09:17,239 --> 00:09:19,379 to you, this is about the grace of God. 186 00:09:20,210 --> 00:09:21,839 Stand firm in it." 187 00:09:22,850 --> 00:09:24,719 Peter looked at the whole message of the book that he had just 188 00:09:24,719 --> 00:09:27,519 written and summed it up this way, "This is the grace of God." 189 00:09:28,250 --> 00:09:30,629 And so if you think about the message of 1 Peter and everything that we've 190 00:09:30,760 --> 00:09:35,070 heard about and read about from the very beginning of this epistle about our future 191 00:09:35,070 --> 00:09:38,489 inheritance that we're gonna have that he prophesies about or that he talks about, 192 00:09:38,489 --> 00:09:41,780 and he says we're being guarded by God's power through faith for this salvation, 193 00:09:41,780 --> 00:09:43,500 ready to be revealed in the last time. 194 00:09:43,850 --> 00:09:48,259 As he talks to, to us about being holy as Christ is holy and striving for that 195 00:09:48,259 --> 00:09:53,129 holiness, as he talks about being built together as a living temple together as 196 00:09:53,129 --> 00:09:56,939 the church, as he talks about loving one another earnestly from a pure heart, as he 197 00:09:56,939 --> 00:10:01,449 talks about submitting to the authority, even of unjust rulers, as he speaks to 198 00:10:01,449 --> 00:10:04,640 wives about submitting to unbelieving husbands, as he speaks to husbands about 199 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:08,830 how to love their wives and live with them in an understanding manner, as he speaks 200 00:10:08,830 --> 00:10:12,129 about suffering and he says there's, there's fiery trials that are coming am- 201 00:10:12,170 --> 00:10:13,699 among you, don't be surprised at that. 202 00:10:13,699 --> 00:10:18,030 As, as Peter says, you should rejoice in suffering because it's testing your faith. 203 00:10:18,330 --> 00:10:22,729 As he says the, the suffering is there to confirm your identity in Christ. 204 00:10:22,729 --> 00:10:25,790 As he says that there is suffering that's being experienced not just by 205 00:10:25,790 --> 00:10:28,409 you, but by others as well in the church. 206 00:10:28,439 --> 00:10:31,290 As he tells us that there's an enemy that's prowling around like 207 00:10:31,290 --> 00:10:33,659 a roaring lion, and, and you and I are on the menu, and we need 208 00:10:33,659 --> 00:10:35,670 to resist him, firm in the faith. 209 00:10:35,850 --> 00:10:38,409 Peter's saying all of this, I can sum it up by saying this 210 00:10:38,409 --> 00:10:39,400 is about the grace of God. 211 00:10:39,400 --> 00:10:40,119 Stand firm in it. 212 00:10:41,769 --> 00:10:42,379 Stand firm in it. 213 00:10:43,350 --> 00:10:46,809 Essentially what Peter is saying here is all of the things that he's talked 214 00:10:46,809 --> 00:10:49,770 about and the commands that he's given, everything in this letter that we've 215 00:10:49,770 --> 00:10:54,660 read to this point, he's saying it's only possible by and through the grace of God. 216 00:10:57,539 --> 00:10:58,260 Stand firm in it. 217 00:10:59,310 --> 00:10:59,999 Stand firm in it. 218 00:11:00,710 --> 00:11:01,350 Don't compromise. 219 00:11:01,350 --> 00:11:01,900 Don't waver. 220 00:11:02,409 --> 00:11:02,730 Own it. 221 00:11:03,460 --> 00:11:03,850 Follow it. 222 00:11:04,199 --> 00:11:04,529 Read it. 223 00:11:04,529 --> 00:11:04,879 Believe it. 224 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:07,440 Obey it. 225 00:11:07,469 --> 00:11:11,100 Uh, one of the ways if, if you want 1 Peter to matter for you, if you want 226 00:11:11,100 --> 00:11:14,570 this 30 weeks to matter, if you want it to, to leave an indelible mark on your 227 00:11:14,570 --> 00:11:17,699 life, if you want the Spirit to really take it and say, "We're gonna go to 228 00:11:17,699 --> 00:11:20,660 work, and we're gonna make us more like Jesus because of our time in 1 Peter," 229 00:11:20,949 --> 00:11:24,199 one of the ways that we can do that is by standing firm in the grace of God. 230 00:11:24,390 --> 00:11:28,689 And while Peter was referring specifically to this letter, I wanna broaden that 231 00:11:28,730 --> 00:11:32,820 understanding to say this is really the whole of Scripture, that God has given 232 00:11:32,820 --> 00:11:36,180 us the entirety of the Bible, and He's handed it to us and said, "Here it is. 233 00:11:36,349 --> 00:11:37,599 This is the grace of God. 234 00:11:37,750 --> 00:11:38,505 Stand firm in it." 235 00:11:39,344 --> 00:11:41,135 What does standing firm look like for us? 236 00:11:41,135 --> 00:11:43,825 Well, it's gonna be our first point this morning, it's gonna be this; read the 237 00:11:43,825 --> 00:11:46,095 Bible, believe the Bible, obey the Bible. 238 00:11:47,135 --> 00:11:50,315 Read the Bible, believe the Bible, obey the Bible. 239 00:11:51,994 --> 00:11:54,234 As Peter's writing to them saying, "This is the grace of God, stand 240 00:11:54,234 --> 00:11:57,734 firm in it," what he's wanting them to do is read 1 Peter, believe what 241 00:11:57,734 --> 00:11:59,244 I've written to you, and then obey. 242 00:12:00,724 --> 00:12:02,404 Read it, believe it, and obey it. 243 00:12:03,214 --> 00:12:07,054 To stand firm, this is a, a common admonition in the scriptures. 244 00:12:07,445 --> 00:12:11,585 1 Corinthians 16:13 says this, "Be watchful, stand firm in the 245 00:12:11,585 --> 00:12:14,595 faith, act like men, be strong." 246 00:12:15,245 --> 00:12:18,345 2 Corinthians 1:24, "Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work 247 00:12:18,345 --> 00:12:23,304 together with you for your joy, for you to stand firm in your faith." 248 00:12:24,374 --> 00:12:25,455 Is to be immovable. 249 00:12:26,624 --> 00:12:30,784 Uh, back in eighth grade, I, I tried to play football before I realized 250 00:12:30,784 --> 00:12:34,775 that genetics just didn't do that for me . And, uh, for whatever 251 00:12:34,775 --> 00:12:37,205 reason, my coaches were like, "Yeah, sure, why don't you be our center?" 252 00:12:38,095 --> 00:12:40,714 If you're not familiar with, with football, a center 253 00:12:40,714 --> 00:12:41,685 is on the offensive line. 254 00:12:42,115 --> 00:12:44,155 If you're not familiar with the offensive line, offensive 255 00:12:44,155 --> 00:12:45,335 linemen are bigger than I am. 256 00:12:45,505 --> 00:12:45,755 Okay? 257 00:12:46,204 --> 00:12:48,204 And maybe you're thinking to yourself, "Well, maybe he was kinda... 258 00:12:48,424 --> 00:12:51,174 Maybe he was bigger in eighth grade and he just slimmed down as he grew up." 259 00:12:51,174 --> 00:12:52,225 Nope, I wasn't. 260 00:12:52,795 --> 00:12:55,354 Uh, my coaches used to encourage me by telling me, "Berner, the, the center's 261 00:12:55,354 --> 00:12:56,655 usually the smallest guy on the field." 262 00:12:56,655 --> 00:12:56,915 Check. 263 00:12:57,445 --> 00:12:58,225 Got that, Coach. 264 00:12:58,464 --> 00:12:58,975 I'm good to go. 265 00:12:59,394 --> 00:13:00,094 I was the center. 266 00:13:00,405 --> 00:13:03,725 A- and, and there were some times that these guys would line up across 267 00:13:03,725 --> 00:13:07,435 from me that I'm convinced their parents just bred them for football. 268 00:13:07,725 --> 00:13:11,485 They were enormous, and I was sitting there as the center going, 269 00:13:11,485 --> 00:13:14,244 "There's no way I'm gonna stand firm when this ball is snapped. 270 00:13:14,555 --> 00:13:17,324 My quarterback is toast because that guy is huge." 271 00:13:19,155 --> 00:13:23,064 If we're gonna stand firm as Christians, we have an opponent that's gonna 272 00:13:23,064 --> 00:13:24,324 line up on the other side of us. 273 00:13:24,894 --> 00:13:25,945 We talked about that recently. 274 00:13:26,394 --> 00:13:27,515 Spiritual warfare, right? 275 00:13:27,964 --> 00:13:30,454 And not just spiritual warfare, but spiritual warfare even as it 276 00:13:30,454 --> 00:13:33,045 manifests itself through opposition from earthly people as well. 277 00:13:33,824 --> 00:13:36,235 And that may be somebody at your work, that may be somebody at your dining 278 00:13:36,235 --> 00:13:39,415 room table, that may be your spouse, that may be your neighbors, that may 279 00:13:39,415 --> 00:13:41,344 be coworkers, that may be politicians. 280 00:13:42,714 --> 00:13:46,324 But if we need to stand firm in the grace of God, what's implied is that there's 281 00:13:46,324 --> 00:13:47,885 going to be opposition to it, right? 282 00:13:48,805 --> 00:13:51,144 That we're going to have to take our stance and make sure that no 283 00:13:51,144 --> 00:13:53,394 matter what comes our way, we're not gonna be knocked off kilter. 284 00:13:54,965 --> 00:13:59,894 If you wanna stand firm in the grace of God, it's found by reading the Word, 285 00:14:00,275 --> 00:14:02,454 believing the Word, and obeying the Word. 286 00:14:04,094 --> 00:14:06,715 Think about all the things that, that Peter has called us to in this book. 287 00:14:06,715 --> 00:14:09,525 I've, I've listed some of them before, but just again, it's good for us to 288 00:14:09,525 --> 00:14:13,165 be reminded as we wrap this book up that you've been, by the grace of 289 00:14:13,165 --> 00:14:14,934 God, born again to a living hope. 290 00:14:15,725 --> 00:14:18,814 You've been, by the grace of God, guarded through His power for a salvation 291 00:14:18,814 --> 00:14:20,475 ready to be revealed in the last times. 292 00:14:21,005 --> 00:14:24,064 You've been, by the grace of God, established to fight the passions 293 00:14:24,064 --> 00:14:25,314 of your former way of life. 294 00:14:26,135 --> 00:14:29,275 By the grace of God, you've been called to strive for holiness. 295 00:14:29,814 --> 00:14:32,615 By the grace of God, you've been called to love one another earnestly. 296 00:14:32,615 --> 00:14:37,139 By the grace of God, you've been born again through His living and abiding Word. 297 00:14:37,690 --> 00:14:41,020 By the grace of God, you can long for the word so that you 298 00:14:41,020 --> 00:14:42,409 may grow up into salvation. 299 00:14:43,089 --> 00:14:47,179 By the grace of God, you are being built up to serve the Lord as a spiritual house. 300 00:14:47,950 --> 00:14:52,350 By the grace of God, you have been, been made a people for his own possession. 301 00:14:53,330 --> 00:14:55,750 By the grace of God, you can abstain from the passions which 302 00:14:55,750 --> 00:14:57,670 wage war against your souls. 303 00:14:58,549 --> 00:15:02,260 By the grace of God, you can be subject to the authorities that God has placed over 304 00:15:02,260 --> 00:15:04,570 your life, both the just and the unjust. 305 00:15:05,129 --> 00:15:08,289 By the grace of God, you can be united as a body of believers. 306 00:15:08,890 --> 00:15:12,860 By the grace of God, you can bless in the face of persecution. 307 00:15:13,820 --> 00:15:16,799 By the grace of God, you can be ready at all times to make a defense 308 00:15:16,799 --> 00:15:18,349 for the hope that is within you. 309 00:15:19,290 --> 00:15:22,410 By the grace of God, you can be prepared to suffer like Jesus suffered. 310 00:15:23,489 --> 00:15:26,630 By the grace of God, you can live differently from the lost around you, 311 00:15:26,660 --> 00:15:29,649 such that they're surprised when you don't join in the same things that they do. 312 00:15:30,849 --> 00:15:33,230 By the grace of God, you can live ready for the return of Christ. 313 00:15:34,329 --> 00:15:36,430 By the grace of God, you can serve the church. 314 00:15:37,029 --> 00:15:39,489 By the grace of God, you can expect the fiery trial and 315 00:15:39,489 --> 00:15:41,390 even rejoice when it appears. 316 00:15:42,629 --> 00:15:46,000 By the grace of God, you can submit to faithful pastors who shepherd your souls. 317 00:15:46,559 --> 00:15:48,140 By the grace of God, you can clothe yourself with 318 00:15:48,140 --> 00:15:49,440 humility towards one another. 319 00:15:50,050 --> 00:15:52,190 By the grace of God, you can resist the devil who prowls 320 00:15:52,190 --> 00:15:53,449 around like a roaring lion. 321 00:15:53,860 --> 00:15:57,199 And by the grace of God, you can endure because he's going to restore you, confirm 322 00:15:57,199 --> 00:15:58,519 you, strengthen you and establish you. 323 00:16:00,960 --> 00:16:02,279 Peter says, "This is the grace of God." 324 00:16:03,960 --> 00:16:08,620 And that's so encouraging this morning because Peter doesn't write all of these 325 00:16:08,620 --> 00:16:11,309 things to you, and, and, and some of that is what's happening to you, and some of 326 00:16:11,309 --> 00:16:12,780 that's what you're being called to do. 327 00:16:14,480 --> 00:16:16,760 And so Peter doesn't write all of these things to you and say, "Hey, 328 00:16:16,990 --> 00:16:20,270 those things that you're being called to do, pull yourself up by your 329 00:16:20,270 --> 00:16:21,760 bootstraps and just get after it." 330 00:16:23,820 --> 00:16:27,030 He says, "Stand firm in the grace of God." 331 00:16:28,079 --> 00:16:31,239 See, now that you are in Christ, in other words, now that you have been saved, now 332 00:16:31,239 --> 00:16:34,029 that you've been brought from death to life, now that you've been born again 333 00:16:34,029 --> 00:16:38,520 and you have new life within you, now you can stand firm in these things. 334 00:16:38,829 --> 00:16:41,370 Now you can resist the enemy. 335 00:16:41,469 --> 00:16:44,739 Now you can endure and persevere and not fall away. 336 00:16:45,739 --> 00:16:46,899 You can stay the course. 337 00:16:47,790 --> 00:16:48,110 Why? 338 00:16:49,630 --> 00:16:51,229 Because of God who's at work within you. 339 00:16:52,120 --> 00:16:53,219 This is the grace of God. 340 00:16:53,219 --> 00:16:53,899 Stand firm in it. 341 00:16:55,270 --> 00:16:57,009 Read the Word, believe the Word, obey the Word. 342 00:16:58,279 --> 00:17:00,299 This is, is, is our, our playbook. 343 00:17:01,589 --> 00:17:04,180 God is, is in the Word of God revealing himself. 344 00:17:04,180 --> 00:17:05,909 He's revealing what he's doing. 345 00:17:05,909 --> 00:17:09,439 He's revealing more about you and me, and he's calling us to, to live 346 00:17:09,439 --> 00:17:11,740 in accordance with what pleases him. 347 00:17:11,930 --> 00:17:14,569 And so if we wanna stand firm in the grace of God, we go to the Word of God, 348 00:17:14,569 --> 00:17:17,759 we read the Word of God, we believe the Word of God, and we obey the Word of God. 349 00:17:17,930 --> 00:17:20,470 And all of that is possible because of the grace of God that's at 350 00:17:20,470 --> 00:17:24,170 work within us, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. 351 00:17:25,729 --> 00:17:26,839 And so we go to the scriptures. 352 00:17:26,839 --> 00:17:30,439 If we, if we want First Peter to matter, one of the, the key takeaways should be, 353 00:17:30,640 --> 00:17:34,964 man, we need to be men and women of the book We need to go to the word of God. 354 00:17:34,964 --> 00:17:36,805 We need to take it seriously. 355 00:17:36,805 --> 00:17:39,844 We need to read it, we need to believe it, we need to obey it. 356 00:17:42,044 --> 00:17:44,235 Part and parcel with that is, is we need to major in the majors. 357 00:17:45,514 --> 00:17:46,454 We need to major in the majors. 358 00:17:46,744 --> 00:17:50,454 Uh, uh, uh, we live in a world with conspiracies and myths and, and 359 00:17:50,454 --> 00:17:52,055 speculations abounding everywhere. 360 00:17:52,904 --> 00:17:56,095 A- and social media m- has made it possible that you can in, in 10 minutes 361 00:17:56,095 --> 00:18:00,425 on your phone scroll through more false teaching than a person in ages before 362 00:18:00,425 --> 00:18:01,865 would encounter an entire lifetime. 363 00:18:03,824 --> 00:18:04,494 Be discerning. 364 00:18:05,524 --> 00:18:06,425 Be good Bereans. 365 00:18:07,314 --> 00:18:10,115 Take the teaching that you encounter out there to the word of God. 366 00:18:10,695 --> 00:18:11,535 Does it line up? 367 00:18:11,535 --> 00:18:12,335 Does it measure up? 368 00:18:13,894 --> 00:18:14,774 Also, does it matter? 369 00:18:16,115 --> 00:18:16,255 Does... 370 00:18:16,255 --> 00:18:17,285 I- is, is this... 371 00:18:17,365 --> 00:18:18,134 What is this change? 372 00:18:18,405 --> 00:18:22,004 Recently, there was this conspiracy that, that was, that just came out even 373 00:18:22,004 --> 00:18:25,744 just within the last week, that, that somehow there was this cabal of, of 374 00:18:25,744 --> 00:18:28,125 secret pastors that were meeting with government officials, and they were 375 00:18:28,125 --> 00:18:29,215 about to tell them, "Hey, guess what? 376 00:18:29,215 --> 00:18:32,774 We're gonna let you know aliens are real, and they invented Christianity, 377 00:18:32,774 --> 00:18:35,924 and they probably created you too, and this is gonna destroy the church." 378 00:18:37,165 --> 00:18:40,494 A- and people were on social media just panicking and buying into this and going, 379 00:18:40,494 --> 00:18:41,864 "Who was there, and who wasn't there?" 380 00:18:42,165 --> 00:18:44,154 Listen, if there was one, I wasn't invited, okay? 381 00:18:44,474 --> 00:18:47,915 Um, but, but what utter nonsense. 382 00:18:49,125 --> 00:18:52,744 And, and, and even the, the, the release of all the UFO files, which I know 383 00:18:52,744 --> 00:18:56,025 we've got different opinions on this in the room, so I'll tread carefully. 384 00:18:57,914 --> 00:19:00,284 Whether aliens exist or not, what's the mission of the church? 385 00:19:01,434 --> 00:19:03,075 What's your job, Christian? 386 00:19:05,404 --> 00:19:06,705 To grow in Christ-likeness. 387 00:19:08,915 --> 00:19:12,524 The existence of UFOs, aliens, or anything else doesn't do any d- anything 388 00:19:12,524 --> 00:19:13,725 to change what God's calling you to do. 389 00:19:14,245 --> 00:19:16,854 And yet we can care so much more about that than we do about 390 00:19:16,854 --> 00:19:17,965 standing firm in the grace of God. 391 00:19:19,424 --> 00:19:22,705 W- we spend so much more energy debating about whether or not these 392 00:19:22,705 --> 00:19:26,604 UFOs are real or demonic or anything else, a- and we're not talking about, 393 00:19:26,604 --> 00:19:28,055 "Hey, let's go to the scriptures. 394 00:19:28,055 --> 00:19:29,584 How am I applying God's Word in my life right now? 395 00:19:30,774 --> 00:19:32,684 What am I doing with this what I know to be true?" 396 00:19:35,575 --> 00:19:37,525 Paul wrote this to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 1. 397 00:19:37,525 --> 00:19:39,865 He said, "As I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at 398 00:19:39,865 --> 00:19:42,525 Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to teach any different 399 00:19:42,525 --> 00:19:47,574 doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which 400 00:19:47,574 --> 00:19:52,175 promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith." 401 00:19:54,735 --> 00:20:01,094 Listen, y'all, I, I, I know that not every conspiracy theory is a theory. 402 00:20:01,094 --> 00:20:02,255 I, I, I trust that. 403 00:20:04,125 --> 00:20:08,335 But I also know that we as a church have become far more obsessed with conspiracy 404 00:20:08,335 --> 00:20:10,005 theories than being on mission for Jesus. 405 00:20:13,414 --> 00:20:18,914 A- and, and yeah, I probably am far too dismissive of some of these things. 406 00:20:19,954 --> 00:20:22,794 If you wanna talk to somebody about it, it, it... 407 00:20:22,794 --> 00:20:23,605 I'll talk to you. 408 00:20:23,605 --> 00:20:28,400 Uh, you're just not gonna like my, my response I, and I'm not just 409 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:31,220 saying let's be sheep and just blindly follow and trust that our 410 00:20:31,220 --> 00:20:33,019 leaders are all men of in-integrity. 411 00:20:33,019 --> 00:20:34,399 I'm saying let's just be on mission. 412 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:37,850 Let's stand firm in the things that we know that God has revealed. 413 00:20:38,289 --> 00:20:39,430 Let's major in the majors. 414 00:20:42,569 --> 00:20:44,460 Vote, yeah, go do those things. 415 00:20:44,460 --> 00:20:47,899 Be politically involved and do the part, the, the, the job that God has given 416 00:20:47,899 --> 00:20:50,680 you, but don't lose sleep over whether or not there's aliens in the world. 417 00:20:52,310 --> 00:20:55,190 Don't lose sleep over whether or not COVID-19 was manufactured 418 00:20:55,190 --> 00:20:56,510 in some government lab. 419 00:20:56,510 --> 00:20:58,789 Don't lose sleep over the hantavirus and what that's gonna do. 420 00:20:59,550 --> 00:20:59,879 Let's... 421 00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:02,439 Come on, the enemy wants us distracted that way. 422 00:21:04,340 --> 00:21:07,080 When Peter says, "This is the grace of God," stand firm in this. 423 00:21:08,330 --> 00:21:09,580 This is it right here. 424 00:21:10,230 --> 00:21:14,259 Look, y'all, we got plenty of homework right here to last 425 00:21:14,259 --> 00:21:15,360 us the rest of our lives. 426 00:21:16,890 --> 00:21:19,590 L-let's, let's major on the majors. 427 00:21:20,689 --> 00:21:22,570 Let's read the Word, believe the Word, obey the Word. 428 00:21:24,580 --> 00:21:28,040 And let's be so busy about doing this that all the world and all the 429 00:21:28,040 --> 00:21:30,830 conspiracy nonsense that, that's going on out there is gonna stop now 430 00:21:30,830 --> 00:21:31,930 and say, "What is the church doing? 431 00:21:31,930 --> 00:21:33,149 They're turning the world upside down." 432 00:21:35,550 --> 00:21:36,499 This is the grace of God. 433 00:21:36,499 --> 00:21:37,090 Stand firm in it. 434 00:21:38,590 --> 00:21:41,900 If you want First Peter to count, one of the key takeaways for us 435 00:21:41,900 --> 00:21:44,609 is saying, "Man, I, I want to be in the Word, I want to believe the 436 00:21:44,609 --> 00:21:45,729 Word, and I want to obey the Word." 437 00:21:46,949 --> 00:21:47,739 There's security there. 438 00:21:47,739 --> 00:21:48,300 There's safety there. 439 00:21:48,330 --> 00:21:51,460 As Peter's writing to these exiles, with all the uncertainty, he 440 00:21:51,460 --> 00:21:52,320 says, "You know what's certain? 441 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:52,870 God's Word. 442 00:21:53,740 --> 00:21:54,859 You wanna, you wanna endure? 443 00:21:55,240 --> 00:21:55,769 Be in the Word. 444 00:21:56,870 --> 00:21:58,579 Long for it that you may grow up into salvation." 445 00:21:59,070 --> 00:21:59,210 Right? 446 00:22:01,150 --> 00:22:02,769 Read the Bible, believe the Bible, obey the Bible. 447 00:22:04,230 --> 00:22:06,249 He continues, though, in his farewell here. 448 00:22:06,249 --> 00:22:09,460 He says, "She who is at Babylon sends you greetings, who is likewise 449 00:22:09,460 --> 00:22:12,009 chosen, and so does Mark, my son. 450 00:22:13,149 --> 00:22:16,140 She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you 451 00:22:16,140 --> 00:22:18,809 greetings, and so does Mark, my son." 452 00:22:20,059 --> 00:22:24,189 There's been debate and speculation over who this she is, and some have 453 00:22:24,189 --> 00:22:25,539 suggested, well, this is Peter's wife. 454 00:22:26,579 --> 00:22:31,149 Um, but probably unlikely that those that Peter's writing to in all of these 455 00:22:31,590 --> 00:22:35,599 areas would have known Peter's wife or that this is a reference to Peter's wife. 456 00:22:36,360 --> 00:22:38,439 So that, that seems not to be the case. 457 00:22:38,439 --> 00:22:41,060 Others have suggested that this is some unknown individual 458 00:22:41,259 --> 00:22:42,280 in, in the church there. 459 00:22:42,840 --> 00:22:46,579 Again, unlikely that an unknown individual, single woman, would have 460 00:22:46,579 --> 00:22:50,060 been known by all of these different believers that, that Peter's writing to. 461 00:22:50,609 --> 00:22:53,289 Also, he singles out Mark by name here. 462 00:22:53,289 --> 00:22:56,149 So if this was a known individual, I would imagine that he would have s- 463 00:22:56,149 --> 00:22:58,370 called her by her name in this context. 464 00:22:59,050 --> 00:23:02,550 And so there's another option, and that is that Peter's referring to the church. 465 00:23:03,354 --> 00:23:04,964 And referring to the church as she. 466 00:23:05,085 --> 00:23:09,555 Now, John, in his epistles, writes about the elect lady and refers to 467 00:23:09,555 --> 00:23:11,615 the church in those terms as well. 468 00:23:11,615 --> 00:23:13,394 We refer to the church as the bride of Christ. 469 00:23:13,394 --> 00:23:16,634 And so to attach the feminine pronoun to the churches is something that 470 00:23:16,634 --> 00:23:20,015 fits with the context of what we should expect here, even from Peter. 471 00:23:20,015 --> 00:23:25,165 And so Peter says the one, the, the, the church, she who is at Babylon, who is 472 00:23:25,165 --> 00:23:27,614 likewise chosen, sends you greetings. 473 00:23:28,425 --> 00:23:31,114 And so Peter's referring to the church who is at Babylon. 474 00:23:31,114 --> 00:23:33,564 And again, peop- people have said, "Well, was Peter in Babylon?" 475 00:23:33,894 --> 00:23:36,164 No, we believe that Peter was writing from Rome at this time. 476 00:23:36,774 --> 00:23:39,664 So Peter's writing from Rome, he refers to the Roman church there as the church 477 00:23:39,664 --> 00:23:43,094 in Babylon, probably as a reminder of the persecution that was being risen 478 00:23:43,094 --> 00:23:47,395 against the church, but also about their identity as exiles and strangers. 479 00:23:47,395 --> 00:23:50,235 If you go back to the Old Testament, Babylon was the place where God's 480 00:23:50,265 --> 00:23:52,934 people, the southern kingdom of Judah, were taken into captivity. 481 00:23:52,934 --> 00:23:53,985 They were in exile there. 482 00:23:54,364 --> 00:23:56,664 So Peter's saying the church here in Babylon, the church 483 00:23:56,905 --> 00:23:59,414 from Rome sends you greetings. 484 00:23:59,414 --> 00:24:02,314 And then he says, "So does Marc, my son." 485 00:24:03,434 --> 00:24:03,905 Who is Marc? 486 00:24:04,324 --> 00:24:05,655 This is probably John Marc. 487 00:24:06,114 --> 00:24:08,815 Again, the same one, just like Silas was on the missionary journey 488 00:24:08,815 --> 00:24:11,445 with Paul, John Marc was also on the missionary journey with Paul. 489 00:24:11,445 --> 00:24:13,864 And you remember Paul and John Marc had a, a falling out. 490 00:24:13,864 --> 00:24:14,025 Why? 491 00:24:14,025 --> 00:24:18,635 Because Marc left early on the first missionary journey, and Paul didn't 492 00:24:18,635 --> 00:24:21,515 like that, and so Paul didn't take him along, but later on they reconciled. 493 00:24:21,815 --> 00:24:26,945 Well, Marc and, and Peter had a connection here, and they knew each other so much 494 00:24:26,945 --> 00:24:32,015 so that the early church testifies, including Polycarp, that Marc wrote the 495 00:24:32,015 --> 00:24:34,044 Gospel of Marc based on Peter's account. 496 00:24:34,724 --> 00:24:37,555 And so Marc and Peter were, were close friends. 497 00:24:37,985 --> 00:24:40,354 In fact, Peter even refers to him as my son. 498 00:24:40,735 --> 00:24:43,805 There's question of whether or not Peter had a role in Marc's eventual 499 00:24:43,805 --> 00:24:47,854 conversion, or at least Peter was a, a spiritual mentor to Marc, that Marc 500 00:24:47,854 --> 00:24:51,595 looked up to Peter and considered him a, a father in the faith. 501 00:24:52,085 --> 00:24:55,695 And so Marc is here, and he says, even Marc, Marc sends you greetings as well. 502 00:24:58,095 --> 00:25:01,455 And then he says of the church, those who are, are likewise chosen. 503 00:25:02,904 --> 00:25:04,145 Marc in the church. 504 00:25:05,715 --> 00:25:09,304 Peter's reminding his readers one more time in this letter here that they're 505 00:25:09,304 --> 00:25:11,594 not alone, that they're not alone. 506 00:25:12,575 --> 00:25:15,875 We talked about this earlier, that we're not alone because God has 507 00:25:15,875 --> 00:25:18,274 given us His Spirit, and the Spirit is with us even as we suffer. 508 00:25:19,684 --> 00:25:22,174 But what he's referring to here and what he's reminding them here is they're not 509 00:25:22,174 --> 00:25:25,744 alone, even just as they look around at, at, at those that are in this world. 510 00:25:26,635 --> 00:25:27,635 They're not by themselves. 511 00:25:27,635 --> 00:25:31,425 You remember El- Elijah had that complex where he thought, "I alone am, am here. 512 00:25:31,425 --> 00:25:33,115 I'm the only righteous one left, God." 513 00:25:33,844 --> 00:25:35,335 And God's like, "Well, actually you're not. 514 00:25:36,015 --> 00:25:36,725 I've got others." 515 00:25:37,905 --> 00:25:41,054 And, and Peter's reminding the churches that are suffering, that are in exile, 516 00:25:41,295 --> 00:25:44,175 who, who didn't have social media to be able to connect with the other believers 517 00:25:44,175 --> 00:25:47,885 that were in Rome or in, you know, other regions, in Colossae and Ephesus. 518 00:25:47,914 --> 00:25:49,745 He's reminding them, "You're, you're not alone." 519 00:25:49,745 --> 00:25:51,425 And I think that's one of the reasons why he says, "The church 520 00:25:51,425 --> 00:25:53,034 here, we send you our greetings. 521 00:25:53,164 --> 00:25:56,335 Those that are, who are likewise chosen, those that are fellow believers 522 00:25:56,335 --> 00:25:58,635 with you, we send you greetings." 523 00:25:59,205 --> 00:26:01,295 He's reminding them that they're part of something that's much bigger 524 00:26:01,295 --> 00:26:03,754 than just themselves, and we are too. 525 00:26:05,165 --> 00:26:08,994 As we stand firm as the church, as we stand firm in the grace of 526 00:26:08,994 --> 00:26:13,004 God, as the Spirit empowers us, we are not alone in this either. 527 00:26:14,345 --> 00:26:17,164 I think that's one of the other impacts that First Peter should have on us, that 528 00:26:17,265 --> 00:26:22,285 as we are on mission as the church, we are on mission not just siloed here, 529 00:26:23,365 --> 00:26:27,334 but that we as we endure, as we press on, as we suffer, we are on mission 530 00:26:27,334 --> 00:26:30,064 with the entirety of the Church, big C. 531 00:26:30,795 --> 00:26:33,624 We have other faithful brothers and sisters in Christ that are all over, 532 00:26:33,624 --> 00:26:36,935 including in our region here, who are meeting together this morning, 533 00:26:37,124 --> 00:26:40,014 preaching the gospel, preaching the word this morning, and we are not 534 00:26:40,014 --> 00:26:43,664 alone, and we are called, I think, to take our stand alongside them. 535 00:26:44,324 --> 00:26:48,595 So our second point this morning is this: feel small, feel part, feel responsible. 536 00:26:50,495 --> 00:26:51,955 This is a nine-point sermon, by the way. 537 00:26:51,955 --> 00:26:53,874 I have three imperatives on all of my points. 538 00:26:53,874 --> 00:26:54,315 I cheated. 539 00:26:55,705 --> 00:26:58,745 Feel small, feel part, and feel responsible. 540 00:27:02,384 --> 00:27:06,484 One of my old pastors used to tell me all the time that the kingdom of God 541 00:27:06,484 --> 00:27:08,144 is broader than I'm comfortable with. 542 00:27:10,714 --> 00:27:11,874 Broader than I'm comfortable with. 543 00:27:13,915 --> 00:27:17,164 Somebody asked me the question the other day, uh, "Hey, Pastor BJ, what would 544 00:27:17,164 --> 00:27:20,684 you say is the percentage of believers, actual believers in the United States? 545 00:27:20,684 --> 00:27:23,755 How many people out of our population would you say are actually saved?" 546 00:27:25,424 --> 00:27:29,164 My number was, was far higher than some of the others out there. 547 00:27:29,535 --> 00:27:30,084 But I'll tell you why. 548 00:27:30,084 --> 00:27:35,475 I'm not gonna give you my number either, so, um, the reason is, is 549 00:27:35,475 --> 00:27:38,395 because my default is to be too narrow-minded when it comes to that. 550 00:27:39,615 --> 00:27:44,524 My default is to think, "Well, I've got the right doctrine, I've got the 551 00:27:44,524 --> 00:27:48,674 right theology, I've got the right way to do things," and my tendency and my 552 00:27:48,674 --> 00:27:54,735 temptation can be to take secondary and tertiary issues that are not gospel 553 00:27:54,735 --> 00:27:58,584 issues and elevate them to become matters of, of a test of whether or not 554 00:27:58,584 --> 00:27:59,974 somebody is truly a faithful church. 555 00:28:01,994 --> 00:28:05,704 A-and what God has taught me slowly over the, the course of time and 556 00:28:05,704 --> 00:28:10,435 continues to teach me i-is that the, the kingdom o-of God is broader 557 00:28:10,435 --> 00:28:11,395 than what I'm comfortable with. 558 00:28:13,154 --> 00:28:15,664 Sometimes I, I tell people I think when I die and get to heaven, there's 559 00:28:15,664 --> 00:28:18,754 gonna be a room that I'm gonna go into, and God's gonna have this, this, 560 00:28:18,754 --> 00:28:21,405 like, movie that's gonna play of, like, here's everything that you got wrong 561 00:28:22,885 --> 00:28:23,725 I hope it's not too long. 562 00:28:25,835 --> 00:28:29,625 But, but I realize that in my finitude, there are things that, 563 00:28:29,625 --> 00:28:32,334 that I, I, I believe, but I have to believe with an open hand. 564 00:28:33,575 --> 00:28:36,474 There are things as Christians that we have to believe with a closed fist. 565 00:28:37,224 --> 00:28:40,274 The inerrancy and authority of the Word of God, the exclusivity of Christ, 566 00:28:40,604 --> 00:28:45,955 that Jesus alone is Savior, that God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit, the equality 567 00:28:45,955 --> 00:28:47,975 of the members of the Trinity, right? 568 00:28:48,184 --> 00:28:52,104 Those are elements that are un-- We, we, we cannot waver on those. 569 00:28:52,524 --> 00:28:54,715 We have to stand firm on those things. 570 00:28:55,664 --> 00:28:59,259 But there are other things that we believe That we have to hold with open 571 00:28:59,259 --> 00:29:03,740 hands and realize that these are not causes for us to divide fellowship with 572 00:29:03,780 --> 00:29:05,300 other faithful Christians in this world. 573 00:29:07,090 --> 00:29:11,489 And so as we sit here this morning, sometimes it's, it's fun to zoom out and 574 00:29:11,489 --> 00:29:13,249 think about the churches around the world. 575 00:29:13,649 --> 00:29:15,980 Uh, like I'm, I'm jealous of some of the churches where n- they're already 576 00:29:15,980 --> 00:29:19,580 napping at home on the couch 'cause it's Sunday afternoon wherever they are. 577 00:29:21,160 --> 00:29:23,609 But they were here this morning, wherever that was for them, and they were preaching 578 00:29:23,609 --> 00:29:24,839 the word, and they were faithful. 579 00:29:25,769 --> 00:29:29,640 It may look radically different than what we're doing here, but as long as 580 00:29:29,640 --> 00:29:32,500 the gospel is preached and the word of God is exalted and, and the word 581 00:29:32,500 --> 00:29:36,250 of God is held as authoritative, then we can say, "Man, we're, we're gonna 582 00:29:36,250 --> 00:29:37,480 rejoice that we're a part of that." 583 00:29:37,540 --> 00:29:39,279 That's what I mean by feel small. 584 00:29:40,890 --> 00:29:43,890 A- as we think about this and, and Peter saying, "Hey, the church at Rome sends 585 00:29:43,890 --> 00:29:47,469 you greetings," they may have known... 586 00:29:47,469 --> 00:29:49,840 Some of these people may have known a few people at the church of Rome, but 587 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,140 they wouldn't have known the majority of them, and so they're reminded, 588 00:29:52,189 --> 00:29:55,309 "Oh yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm pretty small in the big picture of things." 589 00:29:56,820 --> 00:29:59,590 I mean, we think about churches in our area and realize, man, God is 590 00:29:59,590 --> 00:30:00,969 building His church in North Texas. 591 00:30:01,750 --> 00:30:04,220 There are faithful churches like Lighthouse Church right down the road, or 592 00:30:04,220 --> 00:30:07,720 like The Trails Church, or like Providence Church, or like Trinity Bible Church, 593 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:11,040 just to name a, a few that are faithfully preaching the word of God this morning. 594 00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:14,190 And I'm, I'm thankful for that. 595 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:20,059 I wanna feel small to remember that, man, God is doing something so much bigger than 596 00:30:20,059 --> 00:30:21,430 what He's doing inside these four walls. 597 00:30:22,339 --> 00:30:24,690 I'm thankful for what He's doing inside these four walls, but this isn't it. 598 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:28,529 Thinking about the other faithful churches in this area shouldn't 599 00:30:28,529 --> 00:30:32,919 spur a, a, a feeling of competition in our hearts, but as a gratitude. 600 00:30:33,339 --> 00:30:34,299 It should be life-giving. 601 00:30:34,650 --> 00:30:37,220 It should brea- breathe life into our sails to say, "Man, we've got other 602 00:30:37,220 --> 00:30:40,650 brothers and sisters in Christ that are pushing the ball forward along with us." 603 00:30:41,229 --> 00:30:43,720 Listen to Paul from Philippians 1:27. 604 00:30:44,159 --> 00:30:48,099 He says this: "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, 605 00:30:48,309 --> 00:30:52,599 so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you 606 00:30:52,599 --> 00:30:59,110 are," here's our word, "standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side 607 00:30:59,110 --> 00:31:01,229 by side for the faith of the gospel." 608 00:31:02,070 --> 00:31:05,540 That's what I hope that we're doing right now, y'all, is striving side 609 00:31:05,540 --> 00:31:09,099 by side with other churches for the faith of the gospel, that we 610 00:31:09,099 --> 00:31:10,849 are standing firm in one spirit. 611 00:31:11,060 --> 00:31:12,659 We may do things differently. 612 00:31:12,889 --> 00:31:15,689 The way we set up our structure of leadership in the church, 613 00:31:15,689 --> 00:31:16,579 that may be different. 614 00:31:17,139 --> 00:31:19,599 The way we observe communion, that may be different. 615 00:31:19,790 --> 00:31:21,609 The way we dress, that may be different. 616 00:31:21,650 --> 00:31:24,219 The style of music that we have, that may be different. 617 00:31:26,370 --> 00:31:28,189 But that doesn't mean it's disparate, meaning it doesn't 618 00:31:28,189 --> 00:31:29,490 mean that it's at, at odds. 619 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:31,780 It doesn't mean that we have to divide fellowship and say, "Well, 620 00:31:31,780 --> 00:31:34,290 you're not Christians because you don't do things this way." 621 00:31:34,290 --> 00:31:36,339 Instead, we should say, "Man, let's praise God. 622 00:31:36,439 --> 00:31:40,099 Hey, y- y- y- Methodists over here, I want you to, to be the best Methodist church 623 00:31:40,099 --> 00:31:42,799 that you possibly can be to reach as many people for Christ as you possibly can be. 624 00:31:43,430 --> 00:31:44,180 Share the gospel. 625 00:31:44,320 --> 00:31:47,170 Hey, Episcopalians over here, be faithful to the word of God and 626 00:31:47,170 --> 00:31:48,580 go reach more people for Christ. 627 00:31:49,209 --> 00:31:53,340 Presbyterians, hey, go reach more people for Christ, and get them saved, and then 628 00:31:53,340 --> 00:31:54,469 send them here, and we'll baptize them." 629 00:31:59,660 --> 00:32:01,420 Some of you driving home are gonna be like, "What did he mean by that?" 630 00:32:02,529 --> 00:32:03,659 Nothing worth me repeating. 631 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:08,280 In other words, y'all, we've been called to join the ranks of other 632 00:32:08,280 --> 00:32:12,649 faithful churches to get the gospel out there, and there are other faithful 633 00:32:12,649 --> 00:32:13,650 churches doing that this morning. 634 00:32:14,050 --> 00:32:15,100 So feel small. 635 00:32:15,499 --> 00:32:16,249 Feel small. 636 00:32:16,539 --> 00:32:18,169 Pray for them, right? 637 00:32:18,169 --> 00:32:20,199 That's one way that we can do this, one way that we can say, "Okay, 638 00:32:20,199 --> 00:32:21,439 how do I, how do I feel small? 639 00:32:21,439 --> 00:32:22,150 What should my response be?" 640 00:32:22,150 --> 00:32:23,379 Man, pray for those other churches. 641 00:32:23,679 --> 00:32:27,379 Pray for God to raise up more faithful churches in our area that would 642 00:32:27,379 --> 00:32:28,640 be doing the work of the ministry. 643 00:32:29,800 --> 00:32:33,470 Pray for the churches that are in our area to, to grow through con- conversions. 644 00:32:33,470 --> 00:32:35,150 We wanna see people, lost people saved. 645 00:32:35,359 --> 00:32:38,030 There's plenty of people in our area that need the gospel, right? 646 00:32:38,030 --> 00:32:39,850 There's plenty of, of unbelievers to go around. 647 00:32:41,159 --> 00:32:42,159 And so pray for conversion. 648 00:32:42,159 --> 00:32:42,810 Pray for growth. 649 00:32:42,999 --> 00:32:45,350 Pray for other churches in our area to be kept from division. 650 00:32:46,629 --> 00:32:48,129 Pray that none of them would split. 651 00:32:49,170 --> 00:32:51,109 Pray for their pastors to be kept from moral failure. 652 00:32:52,350 --> 00:32:55,260 Pray for their marriages to be restored in the church and, and sin 653 00:32:55,260 --> 00:32:57,420 put off through their counseling ministries that are taking place there. 654 00:32:57,789 --> 00:32:59,900 Pray for fruitfulness, in other words, from these churches, that 655 00:32:59,900 --> 00:33:01,109 they would be faithful to the Word. 656 00:33:02,609 --> 00:33:08,240 So we need to feel small, but we also need to feel part of it as a church, and so 657 00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:09,549 we need to be doing our part as a church. 658 00:33:09,600 --> 00:33:12,949 I wanna know that Pastor Jason over at Lighthouse is preaching 659 00:33:12,949 --> 00:33:14,240 God's Word faithfully this morning. 660 00:33:15,119 --> 00:33:18,890 I wanna know that, that Pastor Matt up at Trails Church is encouraging his 661 00:33:18,890 --> 00:33:20,210 flock to be on mission this morning. 662 00:33:21,100 --> 00:33:24,540 I wanna know that the, the, the people over at Providence Church are, 663 00:33:24,540 --> 00:33:27,360 are leaving the church this morning ready to go out and be ambassadors 664 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,879 for Christ tomorrow morning when they get into their, their workplaces. 665 00:33:29,879 --> 00:33:30,899 And guess what, y'all? 666 00:33:30,899 --> 00:33:32,409 They wanna know the same things about us. 667 00:33:33,810 --> 00:33:36,810 And so we need to, as a church, feel a part of what God is doing in this area. 668 00:33:37,710 --> 00:33:40,640 We're not here to be a holy huddle and just kinda hang out 669 00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:41,960 together and, and turn inwardly. 670 00:33:42,379 --> 00:33:44,240 We're here to be on mission with them. 671 00:33:45,500 --> 00:33:49,219 Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud 672 00:33:49,219 --> 00:33:52,129 of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and sin which clings 673 00:33:52,129 --> 00:33:53,740 so closely and run the endurance... 674 00:33:53,939 --> 00:33:55,509 with endurance the race that's set before us." 675 00:33:55,820 --> 00:33:58,140 Those witnesses are not spectators. 676 00:33:58,310 --> 00:33:59,049 They are exhorters. 677 00:33:59,049 --> 00:34:03,299 They're the ones that have finished the race ahead of us that are saying, "Go. 678 00:34:03,399 --> 00:34:04,119 Keep going. 679 00:34:04,219 --> 00:34:05,210 Run to Jesus. 680 00:34:05,540 --> 00:34:06,899 Go get, get after it." 681 00:34:08,399 --> 00:34:11,630 It's, it's like Little League baseball, which we've been watching 682 00:34:11,630 --> 00:34:12,880 a lot of in my house recently. 683 00:34:13,949 --> 00:34:14,290 It, it... 684 00:34:14,290 --> 00:34:17,188 With, with Little League baseball, there's always the kid on the team 685 00:34:17,188 --> 00:34:19,359 that just does not want to be there. 686 00:34:20,168 --> 00:34:24,100 He is just defeated by the fact that he is playing baseball. 687 00:34:24,820 --> 00:34:25,889 He's walking up to the plate. 688 00:34:25,889 --> 00:34:27,929 He's kinda dragging his bat behind him, even with walk-up 689 00:34:27,929 --> 00:34:29,150 music nowadays that they have. 690 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:31,650 You know, he's, he's not gonna s- He... 691 00:34:31,850 --> 00:34:35,370 You couldn't pay him enough money to get him to take the bat off of his shoulder 692 00:34:35,370 --> 00:34:36,840 and even to think about swinging it. 693 00:34:37,179 --> 00:34:38,299 It's not gonna happen. 694 00:34:38,688 --> 00:34:40,540 The coach is gonna put him out in the, the field. 695 00:34:40,748 --> 00:34:41,710 Ball's gonna be hit at him. 696 00:34:41,710 --> 00:34:44,239 He's gonna watch it roll by and look around. 697 00:34:44,688 --> 00:34:48,600 Doesn't matter as the crowd how hard you're cheering for him, 698 00:34:49,268 --> 00:34:52,860 ain't gonna change anything You can be, "Yes, Timmy, let's go. 699 00:34:52,860 --> 00:34:53,708 Hit the ball. 700 00:34:53,708 --> 00:34:54,449 Good eye, Timmy. 701 00:34:54,449 --> 00:34:55,210 Way to take a walk." 702 00:34:55,929 --> 00:34:59,720 Timmy i- is not gonna be motivated by your encouragement. 703 00:35:03,100 --> 00:35:07,780 Y'all, the writer of Hebrews is telling us we've got a crowd that's encouraging 704 00:35:07,780 --> 00:35:10,809 us and saying, "Hey, church, get after it. 705 00:35:11,429 --> 00:35:12,899 Hey, church, swing the bat. 706 00:35:13,559 --> 00:35:15,339 Hey, church, that ball's coming to you. 707 00:35:15,380 --> 00:35:17,920 Are you ready for it?" 708 00:35:17,920 --> 00:35:20,130 And that crowd expects us to respond. 709 00:35:21,220 --> 00:35:24,210 They're exhorting us to run after Jesus, and so we need 710 00:35:24,210 --> 00:35:25,800 to play our part as a church. 711 00:35:26,179 --> 00:35:26,999 Are we doing that? 712 00:35:26,999 --> 00:35:29,669 I've, I've talked about in this series the, the analogy of the 713 00:35:29,669 --> 00:35:31,030 cruise ship or the battleship, right? 714 00:35:31,530 --> 00:35:33,300 We are not here as a cruise ship. 715 00:35:33,300 --> 00:35:35,950 We're here as a battleship, and we are a battleship that's one 716 00:35:35,950 --> 00:35:40,810 of a fleet that God has deployed in this world to do His mission. 717 00:35:41,600 --> 00:35:45,060 Uh, can you imagine right now in Iran if, if one of the battleships 718 00:35:45,060 --> 00:35:48,150 that's there with the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz just decided to be 719 00:35:48,150 --> 00:35:49,269 like, "You know what we're gonna do? 720 00:35:49,429 --> 00:35:52,690 We're gonna go become a cruise ship now," and they just start 721 00:35:52,690 --> 00:35:53,940 turning around and they sail away. 722 00:35:54,909 --> 00:35:55,950 What are you doing? 723 00:35:57,209 --> 00:35:58,049 Where are you going? 724 00:35:58,049 --> 00:35:58,740 There's work to be done. 725 00:35:58,740 --> 00:35:59,420 We depend on you. 726 00:35:59,420 --> 00:36:00,220 You have to be here. 727 00:36:00,220 --> 00:36:00,859 This is your job. 728 00:36:00,859 --> 00:36:01,650 This is your mission. 729 00:36:02,830 --> 00:36:04,959 We as a church can't be the church that's turning from a 730 00:36:04,959 --> 00:36:05,979 battleship into a cruise ship. 731 00:36:05,979 --> 00:36:08,590 We've got to be still on mission. 732 00:36:08,739 --> 00:36:09,629 We've gotta feel small. 733 00:36:09,629 --> 00:36:14,520 We've gotta feel part, and that means you have to feel responsible. 734 00:36:16,720 --> 00:36:17,840 You have to feel responsible. 735 00:36:21,700 --> 00:36:23,680 Uh, this church was getting ready to face some of the most intense 736 00:36:23,680 --> 00:36:27,760 persecution that the, the church really universally has ever known. 737 00:36:28,789 --> 00:36:30,720 Nero was gonna come to the throne if he wasn't already 738 00:36:30,720 --> 00:36:32,069 there, and you know Nero's story. 739 00:36:32,069 --> 00:36:35,020 He burned down Rome and blamed Christians and ended up burning Christians in his 740 00:36:35,020 --> 00:36:36,900 garden parties on torches dipped in tar. 741 00:36:37,509 --> 00:36:39,830 You have another guy named Severus who was gonna come a little bit 742 00:36:39,830 --> 00:36:43,130 later on who outlawed baptism, uh, and killed many Christians 743 00:36:43,130 --> 00:36:44,589 during his reign for their faith. 744 00:36:44,589 --> 00:36:48,460 You have a guy named D- Decius who sanctioned the persecution of 745 00:36:48,460 --> 00:36:51,919 Christians on a, a, an official scale, empire-wide scale. 746 00:36:52,220 --> 00:36:55,840 Also required all Roman citizens to have to offer sacrifices to the 747 00:36:55,840 --> 00:36:59,419 emperor and to their gods, and if they didn't, then they would die. 748 00:36:59,419 --> 00:37:00,930 So again, persecution to Christians. 749 00:37:00,930 --> 00:37:01,980 You had a guy named Valerian. 750 00:37:02,369 --> 00:37:06,660 Valerian stepped up, and he sent the bishops into exile and forbade Christian 751 00:37:06,660 --> 00:37:08,430 assemblies from gathering together. 752 00:37:08,710 --> 00:37:10,219 And then you had a guy named Diocletian. 753 00:37:10,770 --> 00:37:11,989 Diocletian came to the throne. 754 00:37:11,989 --> 00:37:16,290 He ordered the destruction of churches and the burning of the scriptures and 755 00:37:16,290 --> 00:37:21,570 the martyrdom of the Christians who refused to comply with pagan practices. 756 00:37:22,230 --> 00:37:25,970 So persecution was about to be more than it's ever been for this 757 00:37:25,970 --> 00:37:28,049 group and those that followed. 758 00:37:29,729 --> 00:37:33,820 You and I face more of an uphill battle because right now we're not facing 759 00:37:33,820 --> 00:37:38,580 any persecution, and so we have the luxury of throwing stones at other 760 00:37:38,580 --> 00:37:41,220 churches because their doctrine's a little bit different than ours. 761 00:37:42,479 --> 00:37:45,860 We have the luxury of comparing congregational sizes and being like, 762 00:37:45,860 --> 00:37:47,159 "Well, how big is your church?" 763 00:37:47,159 --> 00:37:47,790 "Well, this is my church. 764 00:37:47,790 --> 00:37:48,989 We've got two services." 765 00:37:49,809 --> 00:37:53,319 We have the luxury of elevating tier two and tier three issues 766 00:37:53,319 --> 00:37:54,759 to be divisive in the church. 767 00:37:56,980 --> 00:37:58,259 But what if we don't for much longer? 768 00:37:59,769 --> 00:38:00,350 Have you pondered that? 769 00:38:00,350 --> 00:38:00,859 Have you wondered that? 770 00:38:00,859 --> 00:38:01,589 Have you thought about that? 771 00:38:03,990 --> 00:38:08,700 What if Nero is lurking in the shadows of our time? 772 00:38:10,209 --> 00:38:13,989 Just this last week, I got a text from somebody who took a video. 773 00:38:14,319 --> 00:38:17,970 There were a group of, I, I wanna say probably twenty to thirty Muslims over 774 00:38:17,970 --> 00:38:21,640 here at Frontier Park in Prosper, and they were all there, they had their prayer mats 775 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:26,730 out, and they were doing their prayer to Mecca in the park right at, at Frontier. 776 00:38:29,100 --> 00:38:33,260 And they're there, and they're bowing down over and over again to their false god. 777 00:38:35,999 --> 00:38:40,880 I haven't seen them do that before, but i-i-it seems that 778 00:38:40,880 --> 00:38:41,959 aggression is increasing. 779 00:38:46,329 --> 00:38:48,299 I-if you haven't noticed, th-there, there's a lot of 780 00:38:48,299 --> 00:38:49,680 Muslims and Hindus in our area. 781 00:38:51,109 --> 00:38:54,560 And i-if you look around the world at Muslim and Hindu nations, ask 782 00:38:54,560 --> 00:38:56,959 yourself how Christians are treated and received in those nations. 783 00:39:00,290 --> 00:39:02,429 And so this is what I mean by, by feel responsible. 784 00:39:05,089 --> 00:39:08,119 I, I'll admit, when I, when I first saw them b-doing the, the bowing 785 00:39:08,119 --> 00:39:09,679 down, it, it, it made me angry. 786 00:39:11,139 --> 00:39:11,799 It made me angry. 787 00:39:12,740 --> 00:39:15,459 But then I was, I was actually challenged by my good friend 788 00:39:15,459 --> 00:39:17,870 and my co-pastor, Pastor Rod. 789 00:39:17,870 --> 00:39:19,969 He said, "Rather than being angry, what it should do to us 790 00:39:19,969 --> 00:39:21,060 is it sh-it should motivate us." 791 00:39:22,730 --> 00:39:23,609 That's the right response. 792 00:39:26,179 --> 00:39:28,539 And the motivation shouldn't be, "Let me go to City Hall and, and, 793 00:39:28,539 --> 00:39:32,240 and, you know, raise a stink in City Hall about how this is taking place." 794 00:39:32,240 --> 00:39:34,570 The motivation should be, "Let's get on mission as the church," and that means 795 00:39:34,740 --> 00:39:37,780 you and me taking the responsibility to do what we're being called to do. 796 00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:46,529 I-I-he says, "The church in Babylon, she who is at Babylon likewise, 797 00:39:46,560 --> 00:39:48,929 who likewise is chosen sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark." 798 00:39:49,889 --> 00:39:51,509 That encouragement to say, "Hey, we're on mission here. 799 00:39:51,509 --> 00:39:52,629 We want you to be on mission there." 800 00:39:53,999 --> 00:39:56,289 And we've got other churches that would feel the same thing about us, but we've 801 00:39:56,289 --> 00:40:01,560 also, again, got this cloud of witnesses that wants to see us do our part. 802 00:40:02,139 --> 00:40:06,209 And so yes, that's corporate, but it's also you individually making 803 00:40:06,209 --> 00:40:07,299 sure that you're doing your part. 804 00:40:07,580 --> 00:40:09,699 Doctrine matters to a church, but so does mission. 805 00:40:10,490 --> 00:40:12,760 And if we want this study of First Peter, these thirty weeks in First 806 00:40:12,760 --> 00:40:15,069 Peter to matter, one of the things that it should do is sh-should cause us to 807 00:40:15,069 --> 00:40:17,479 say, "We're here to reach the lost. 808 00:40:18,219 --> 00:40:20,530 We're here to reach those thirty Muslims that were bowing down 809 00:40:20,530 --> 00:40:21,640 and praying towards Mecca. 810 00:40:22,210 --> 00:40:24,589 We're here to tell them, 'Man, you are chasing a false god. 811 00:40:24,929 --> 00:40:26,589 You are chasing a god that can't save you. 812 00:40:27,069 --> 00:40:28,490 You are chasing a hopeless religion. 813 00:40:28,749 --> 00:40:30,339 But I have hope for you in Jesus Christ.'" 814 00:40:30,550 --> 00:40:31,620 Not to hate them. 815 00:40:31,819 --> 00:40:33,670 Our battle is not against flesh and blood. 816 00:40:33,670 --> 00:40:36,969 Our battle is against the spiritual forces that are at work in this present age. 817 00:40:38,969 --> 00:40:43,729 If you see that and you hate them, then there's something wrong with your heart 818 00:40:46,090 --> 00:40:48,219 You need to love them because they're lost. 819 00:40:48,499 --> 00:40:53,489 We sing the song, let us r- not rage against the captive soul, but to rage 820 00:40:53,489 --> 00:40:58,979 against the captor, and that's what we get to do, and we're on the winning team. 821 00:40:59,899 --> 00:41:01,700 We have the message that overcomes. 822 00:41:01,950 --> 00:41:03,180 We have the true message of hope. 823 00:41:03,340 --> 00:41:04,950 We have the message that saves. 824 00:41:06,430 --> 00:41:08,930 And so we as a church can be on mission. 825 00:41:10,000 --> 00:41:13,569 If you want First Peter to count, feel small, feel part, feel responsible. 826 00:41:15,059 --> 00:41:17,720 Then finally he goes on, he says this, "Greet one another with a kiss of love. 827 00:41:19,049 --> 00:41:20,790 Peace to all of you who are in Christ." 828 00:41:22,319 --> 00:41:23,630 Greet one another with a kiss of love. 829 00:41:23,630 --> 00:41:26,209 Don't worry, we're not about to announce a new segment of our worship service. 830 00:41:28,139 --> 00:41:28,470 Amen. 831 00:41:28,470 --> 00:41:29,619 I got an amen on that one. 832 00:41:31,990 --> 00:41:34,230 But it's interesting 'cause this is, is common. 833 00:41:34,230 --> 00:41:37,369 Paul says in First Corinthians 16, "Greet one another with a holy kiss." 834 00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:39,040 It's a warm greeting. 835 00:41:39,040 --> 00:41:41,469 If you go to the Middle East or Europe, they still do things like this over there. 836 00:41:43,150 --> 00:41:43,830 We don't do it. 837 00:41:44,410 --> 00:41:47,600 A- a- and yet before we run too quickly to just say, "Well, it, it's because 838 00:41:47,600 --> 00:41:52,850 of the cultural differences here," yes, and I would say also amen, but I think 839 00:41:52,850 --> 00:41:55,340 it would do well for us as the church to ask ourselves the question, have we 840 00:41:55,340 --> 00:41:56,549 thrown the baby out with the bathwater? 841 00:41:58,450 --> 00:42:00,760 What was Peter wanting them to do? 842 00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:02,169 'Cause I don't think it was about the kiss. 843 00:42:03,249 --> 00:42:04,249 I think it was about the love. 844 00:42:06,289 --> 00:42:08,089 A- and that's been another common theme in First Peter. 845 00:42:08,720 --> 00:42:11,520 And so as, as Peter's bringing this to a close, he's been exhorting us, 846 00:42:11,520 --> 00:42:12,879 "Hey, stand firm in the grace of God. 847 00:42:13,419 --> 00:42:15,839 Y- you need to know this, you need to believe it, you need to do it." 848 00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:19,690 And then he's been th- telling us, "Hey, you've, you're one of, of many. 849 00:42:19,690 --> 00:42:22,709 The church in, in here in Babylon, we send our greetings to you." 850 00:42:22,709 --> 00:42:27,010 In other words, "Hey, feel small, feel part, feel responsible. 851 00:42:27,010 --> 00:42:28,100 Do join us." 852 00:42:28,390 --> 00:42:31,640 And then he finally says, "And, and also, you need to love each other." 853 00:42:32,529 --> 00:42:34,359 And this has been a repeated theme in the, in the epistle. 854 00:42:34,359 --> 00:42:37,699 He's, uh, hit this in chapter two, he's hit it in chapter four, and he's back on 855 00:42:37,699 --> 00:42:39,659 it here again with loving one another. 856 00:42:40,039 --> 00:42:44,140 And so if you want First Peter to count, these 30 weeks to count, one of the ways 857 00:42:44,140 --> 00:42:46,810 that you can do that is thinking about the way that you love the people in this room. 858 00:42:47,369 --> 00:42:49,289 Our third and final point this morning is this: love more, 859 00:42:49,339 --> 00:42:50,759 love different, love on purpose. 860 00:42:51,820 --> 00:42:53,609 Love more, love different, love on purpose. 861 00:42:57,320 --> 00:43:02,249 I- if persecution does come, see, w- we're gonna need each other. 862 00:43:04,500 --> 00:43:06,089 We're gonna need the people in this room. 863 00:43:08,679 --> 00:43:10,770 For many of us in this room, we've grown up believing that 864 00:43:10,770 --> 00:43:12,759 America is a Christian nation. 865 00:43:15,190 --> 00:43:18,740 A- a- and, and really what that did is it produced in us a view of church 866 00:43:18,740 --> 00:43:21,530 that, that made church something that we don't feel like we really need. 867 00:43:23,770 --> 00:43:28,309 We grew up where church fits into my life as it's convenient for me 868 00:43:30,830 --> 00:43:32,529 because there w- wasn't really a threat. 869 00:43:33,749 --> 00:43:38,274 After all, to be American really was to be Christian And so I don't 870 00:43:38,634 --> 00:43:39,924 really need to worry about it. 871 00:43:39,924 --> 00:43:41,404 We grew up in the megachurch area. 872 00:43:41,404 --> 00:43:44,214 We're going to church meant the multimillion-dollar facility and the 873 00:43:44,214 --> 00:43:48,155 climate-controlled area and the worship band that sounds phenomenal and the pastor 874 00:43:48,155 --> 00:43:49,664 that wasn't going to step on my toes. 875 00:43:49,895 --> 00:43:53,285 And then I could leave and go to the fancy, nice brand-new strip mall and 876 00:43:53,285 --> 00:43:56,205 sit down and have brunch with my family and then go home and get back to the 877 00:43:56,205 --> 00:43:58,494 rest of my life that really matters. 878 00:44:01,784 --> 00:44:05,145 And it's that that we're still trying to shake. 879 00:44:06,614 --> 00:44:09,205 It's no wonder that we struggle and we don't have a category for what 880 00:44:09,205 --> 00:44:11,854 Peter is saying here when he says, greet one another with a kiss of love. 881 00:44:16,544 --> 00:44:21,275 If persecution truly comes, you're going to need me and I'm going to need you. 882 00:44:22,494 --> 00:44:25,524 And we have to have a relationship upon which to build that trust 883 00:44:25,524 --> 00:44:26,415 and that love with each other. 884 00:44:29,025 --> 00:44:30,374 What does this have to do with kissing each other? 885 00:44:31,894 --> 00:44:34,664 I came across an article this week that was on this very subject and he said this. 886 00:44:34,954 --> 00:44:37,805 He said, many commentators are quick to say this is a simple handshake now. 887 00:44:38,534 --> 00:44:39,305 That that's the equivalent. 888 00:44:39,305 --> 00:44:40,145 It's a handshake. 889 00:44:41,015 --> 00:44:42,505 And that's the same thing in our context. 890 00:44:43,005 --> 00:44:44,284 But this writer said, and I think he's right, he said, 891 00:44:44,284 --> 00:44:45,794 this is not the case at all. 892 00:44:46,374 --> 00:44:49,975 A matter of fact, arm's length handshake just doesn't cover what Paul wanted 893 00:44:49,975 --> 00:44:51,114 to see happening in the church. 894 00:44:51,544 --> 00:44:55,034 The whole idea here was to greet one another in a way that displays more 895 00:44:55,034 --> 00:44:59,085 intimacy and affection than what you would do, for instance, merely in the workplace 896 00:44:59,344 --> 00:45:01,725 as you're introduced to a new colleague. 897 00:45:02,925 --> 00:45:05,394 In other words, there should be a closeness, a sincere love 898 00:45:05,394 --> 00:45:06,774 and acceptance of each other. 899 00:45:07,054 --> 00:45:10,585 Can you imagine coming home from work and seeing your spouse and 900 00:45:10,585 --> 00:45:12,015 just giving her a handshake? 901 00:45:13,144 --> 00:45:13,765 Oh, it's good to see you. 902 00:45:13,765 --> 00:45:14,504 How was your day? 903 00:45:15,394 --> 00:45:16,414 How was the weather today? 904 00:45:17,774 --> 00:45:18,585 How are the kids? 905 00:45:19,355 --> 00:45:19,794 Great. 906 00:45:20,234 --> 00:45:21,414 I'll see you tomorrow at the same time. 907 00:45:24,295 --> 00:45:30,334 I know that's a little bit of a misapplied illustration because the intimacy of 908 00:45:30,334 --> 00:45:32,254 a husband and wife, and I get that. 909 00:45:32,754 --> 00:45:37,744 But we're way away from what that is right now, y'all, with where we're at. 910 00:45:39,875 --> 00:45:41,144 And maybe you've got your objections. 911 00:45:41,595 --> 00:45:43,504 Well, I have my own group of Christians that aren't part of 912 00:45:43,504 --> 00:45:44,564 this church that I'm close with. 913 00:45:44,865 --> 00:45:45,314 Okay. 914 00:45:45,895 --> 00:45:47,315 Is that what Jesus died for? 915 00:45:48,655 --> 00:45:51,364 When you read the New Testament, can you honestly in your integrity say that 916 00:45:51,364 --> 00:45:54,584 what the design is is for you not to have close relationships in the local 917 00:45:54,584 --> 00:45:58,485 church here because you've got your offshoot Bible study that's over here? 918 00:46:00,134 --> 00:46:02,495 Can you really say that that's what God's design is? 919 00:46:02,495 --> 00:46:04,044 Is that what we see in the New Testament? 920 00:46:05,534 --> 00:46:07,614 Maybe you would say, well, I'm just not an affectionate person. 921 00:46:08,134 --> 00:46:08,544 Okay, fair. 922 00:46:08,544 --> 00:46:10,005 But how do you show affection? 923 00:46:10,005 --> 00:46:12,324 Do you have some way that you show affection to other people? 924 00:46:14,395 --> 00:46:15,264 You can do that here. 925 00:46:16,205 --> 00:46:17,644 Maybe you'd say, I'm socially awkward. 926 00:46:18,655 --> 00:46:18,995 It's okay. 927 00:46:18,995 --> 00:46:19,805 We all are. 928 00:46:21,804 --> 00:46:26,205 Just some of us are a little less aware of our social awkwardness than others. 929 00:46:26,915 --> 00:46:30,285 And believe the best about your brothers and sisters if that's you to know that 930 00:46:30,285 --> 00:46:32,255 they're willing to push through the awkward for you because they love you. 931 00:46:33,705 --> 00:46:34,184 They love you. 932 00:46:35,430 --> 00:46:37,199 Maybe you would say, "Well, I'm not drawn to anyone here." 933 00:46:37,229 --> 00:46:39,299 Okay, that's a you problem more than it is a them problem. 934 00:46:40,299 --> 00:46:41,830 That's about you going to work on your heart. 935 00:46:45,119 --> 00:46:46,789 Maybe you'd say, "Well, I don't have time in my schedule to 936 00:46:46,789 --> 00:46:47,900 build into relationships here." 937 00:46:48,120 --> 00:46:48,949 Rearrange your schedule. 938 00:46:50,919 --> 00:46:53,329 Jesus didn't die for your kids' extracurricular activities. 939 00:46:55,719 --> 00:46:56,710 He died for this place. 940 00:46:58,220 --> 00:47:01,299 Jesus didn't die for you to be involved in the HOA or on the board 941 00:47:01,299 --> 00:47:02,330 of this company or that company. 942 00:47:02,330 --> 00:47:05,289 If it's pulling you away from the church, it's not honoring to Christ. 943 00:47:08,020 --> 00:47:09,869 Maybe you'd say, "Well, I've been hurt by churches in the past." 944 00:47:09,900 --> 00:47:14,239 Yes, we all have, and there are no perfect churches, and yet that's why Peter says 945 00:47:14,239 --> 00:47:15,780 love covers a multitude of offenses. 946 00:47:17,790 --> 00:47:20,510 And maybe you would say, finally, "I, I live too far away to be meaningf- 947 00:47:20,859 --> 00:47:22,339 meaningfully involved here with anyone." 948 00:47:23,609 --> 00:47:23,930 Okay. 949 00:47:24,799 --> 00:47:26,480 Maybe you sell your house and move closer to the church. 950 00:47:27,970 --> 00:47:30,799 Or maybe you count the cost and say, "I'm willing to drive because 951 00:47:30,799 --> 00:47:31,799 this is what God wants me to do. 952 00:47:31,799 --> 00:47:34,269 He wants me to build relationships that matter in this place." 953 00:47:35,859 --> 00:47:38,439 Or maybe, and this is hard for me to say, but maybe there's a church body 954 00:47:38,439 --> 00:47:41,090 closer to where you live that you need to go get involved with because 955 00:47:41,090 --> 00:47:43,340 then you can love people the way that God's calling you to love people. 956 00:47:46,810 --> 00:47:48,849 The point is, this place is family, and it should feel like that. 957 00:47:51,069 --> 00:47:53,439 Coming to church should in some ways be like walking into the living room 958 00:47:53,439 --> 00:47:55,980 at your grandparents' house and seeing your aunts and uncles and cousins and, 959 00:47:55,980 --> 00:47:59,069 and, and people like that, and your heart just goes to them because you 960 00:47:59,069 --> 00:48:00,649 love them, because they're family. 961 00:48:04,299 --> 00:48:05,520 What does this look like practically? 962 00:48:07,139 --> 00:48:09,949 We were at a, a conference recently that talked about having the 10-foot rule, 963 00:48:10,069 --> 00:48:12,769 and I like it, and so I'm gonna embrace it, and I'm gonna challenge you for it. 964 00:48:13,600 --> 00:48:14,869 The 10-foot rule says this. 965 00:48:15,600 --> 00:48:18,749 The 10-foot rule says anyone within a 10-foot radius of you while 966 00:48:18,749 --> 00:48:21,580 you're at church, that's somebody that you need to go talk to. 967 00:48:22,900 --> 00:48:24,460 You need to go greet them warmly. 968 00:48:25,099 --> 00:48:25,759 Get to know them. 969 00:48:25,810 --> 00:48:26,499 I don't know that person. 970 00:48:26,550 --> 00:48:26,820 Great. 971 00:48:26,820 --> 00:48:27,320 Go get to know them. 972 00:48:27,419 --> 00:48:28,550 They're within your 10-foot radius. 973 00:48:30,189 --> 00:48:30,869 This is gonna be like COVID. 974 00:48:30,869 --> 00:48:33,130 You guys are gonna be keeping like 12 feet away from each other right now. 975 00:48:33,130 --> 00:48:34,269 Like, how far is 10? 976 00:48:34,269 --> 00:48:35,339 I'm gonna go 11. 977 00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:38,859 But, but here's the thing, y'all. 978 00:48:38,910 --> 00:48:42,290 This is such a unique time from the rest of, of your, your week. 979 00:48:42,439 --> 00:48:44,629 You have people here that you can talk about spiritual things with. 980 00:48:44,980 --> 00:48:46,220 You have people here that will pray for you. 981 00:48:46,690 --> 00:48:48,570 You have people here that you can talk about what God's doing in 982 00:48:48,570 --> 00:48:50,230 your life, and they're not gonna look at you like you're a freak. 983 00:48:50,230 --> 00:48:51,140 Why do you wanna rush out? 984 00:48:52,680 --> 00:48:53,399 Spend some time. 985 00:48:53,399 --> 00:48:53,649 Linger. 986 00:48:53,649 --> 00:48:54,180 Hang out here. 987 00:48:54,659 --> 00:48:55,520 That's why we do the donuts. 988 00:48:55,520 --> 00:48:57,930 We don't do the donuts because we're trying to support the local donut shop. 989 00:48:58,729 --> 00:49:02,430 We do the donuts to be the, the glue trap because we want you to stick around. 990 00:49:02,430 --> 00:49:03,440 We want you to talk with people. 991 00:49:04,219 --> 00:49:05,569 Don't treat that hallway like a hallway. 992 00:49:05,569 --> 00:49:06,380 Treat it like a living room. 993 00:49:07,759 --> 00:49:08,430 Spend some time. 994 00:49:08,960 --> 00:49:09,390 Linger. 995 00:49:09,919 --> 00:49:11,550 For some of y'all, that means show up earlier. 996 00:49:12,379 --> 00:49:13,100 Be here earlier. 997 00:49:13,100 --> 00:49:16,199 We would love for this room to be filled a little bit earlier for our, our services. 998 00:49:16,250 --> 00:49:17,940 It, it, it would encourage our worship team too. 999 00:49:18,329 --> 00:49:21,759 But hey, show up earlier a- and spend some more time with people when you get here. 1000 00:49:22,910 --> 00:49:24,850 This place, in other words, is supposed to be different. 1001 00:49:25,500 --> 00:49:26,009 Love more. 1002 00:49:26,149 --> 00:49:26,669 Love different. 1003 00:49:26,859 --> 00:49:27,550 Love on purpose. 1004 00:49:27,730 --> 00:49:30,309 Be intentional about it. 1005 00:49:30,309 --> 00:49:32,169 30 Sundays in 1 Peter, seven and a half months 1006 00:49:34,200 --> 00:49:35,889 How do you make sure that this study's been worth it? 1007 00:49:37,629 --> 00:49:38,740 It has to do with your conviction. 1008 00:49:38,740 --> 00:49:40,069 Do you believe the word? 1009 00:49:40,069 --> 00:49:41,080 Are you going to obey the word? 1010 00:49:41,229 --> 00:49:42,250 It has to do with your humility. 1011 00:49:42,250 --> 00:49:45,460 Do you realize, man, I'm small, but I'm part and I'm responsible? 1012 00:49:46,250 --> 00:49:47,109 It has to do with your love. 1013 00:49:47,729 --> 00:49:49,329 Are you going to love one another the way that you're 1014 00:49:49,329 --> 00:49:50,530 being called to love each other? 1015 00:49:51,579 --> 00:49:51,909 Let me pray. 1016 00:49:53,620 --> 00:49:56,620 Lord, thanks for this book and this study and for your faithfulness to 1017 00:49:56,620 --> 00:49:57,909 bring us through these 30 weeks. 1018 00:49:57,909 --> 00:50:00,960 And in this book, we pray that you would take it and apply it to our lives. 1019 00:50:01,390 --> 00:50:02,370 Lord, we don't want to waste this. 1020 00:50:02,370 --> 00:50:05,349 We don't want it just to be another exercise and saying, well, yeah, 1021 00:50:05,349 --> 00:50:08,449 my pastor preached on that book and I remember that and now it's done 1022 00:50:08,449 --> 00:50:09,699 and I can move on to what's next. 1023 00:50:09,699 --> 00:50:10,629 We want it to matter. 1024 00:50:10,629 --> 00:50:11,390 We want it to linger. 1025 00:50:11,390 --> 00:50:14,930 We want it to marinate in our lives such that we're different because of 1026 00:50:14,930 --> 00:50:16,870 our time in 1 Peter than we were before. 1027 00:50:17,360 --> 00:50:20,259 So help us to do these things, Lord, to be convicted, to be humble, and 1028 00:50:20,259 --> 00:50:23,660 to be loving one another until you return and call us home to be with you. 1029 00:50:23,960 --> 00:50:25,579 And so we thank you for this in Jesus' name. 1030 00:50:25,849 --> 00:50:26,340 Amen.