3 truths about God’s care
I. God Works in and Through You Despite Your Imperfections
1 Peter 1:1 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ…
2 Chronicles 7:3 - …Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.
II. God Knows All Your Circumstances
1 Peter 1:1 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…
“When the city of Rome burned in July, A.D. 64 the Romans believed that their Emperor, Nero, had set the city on fire, probably because of his incredible lust to build. In order to build more, he had to destroy what already existed.
The Romans were totally devastated. Their culture, in a sense, went down with the city. All the religious elements of their life were destroyed - their great temples, shrines, and even their household idols were burned up. This had great religious implications because it made them believe that their deities had been unable to deal with this conflagration and were also victims of it. The people were homeless and helpless. Many had been killed. Their bitter resentment was severe, so Nero realized that he had to redirect the hostility.
The emperor’s chosen scapegoat was the Christians, who were already hated because they were associated with the Jews, and because they were seen as being hostile to the Roman culture. Nero spread the word quickly that the Christians had set the fires. As a result, a vicious persecution against Christians began, and soon spread throughout the Roman empire, touching places north of the Taurus mountains, like Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, and impacting the Christians, whom Peter calls “pilgrims”. These “pilgrims” were probably Gentiles for the most part, possibly led to Christ by Paul and his associates, and established on Paul’s teachings. But they needed spiritual strengthening because of their sufferings. Thus the apostle Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote this epistle to strengthen them.” (MacAurthur Study Bible)
III. God Decided Long Ago to Bring You into a Saving Relationship with Him.
1 Peter 1:1-2 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: may grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
Isaiah 55:8-9 - For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Romans 10:13 - Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
2 Peter 2:9 - The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
Jeremiah 19:9 - The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…
Romans 3:10 - There is none righteous, no not one.
Ephesians 2:1 - And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.
A. According to His choice and His foreknowledge
1 Peter 1:1-2 - …chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…
Romans 8:28-29 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren…
Ephesians 1:4-6 - …just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
B. By the work of the Holy Spirit
1 Peter 1:2 - according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit…
C. With two wonderful results
1 Peter 1:1-2 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: may grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
1. We obeyed the gospel and are positioned to obey Christ
Acts 17:30-31 - Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.
2. He sprinkled us with the blood of His Son
Acts 20:28 - …the church of God which He purchased with His own blood
- This morning I’d like to begin our time with a mental survey.
- does anyone here have any problems?
- anyone with any troubles or difficulties?
- Is there anyone here who is in a place you don’t really want to be?
- in a job you don’t want to be in…
- in a location you don’t want to be in…
- in a relationship you don’t want to be in…
- in a family you don’t want to be in…
- in a friendship you don’t want to be in…
- in a marriage you don’t want to be in
- anyone here in a place [either a literal place or a figurative place] that you really don’t want to be in?
- how about this?
- is anyone here in a situation where you feel like you don’t really fit in?
- you don’t really fit in with your neighbors…
- you don’t really fit in with your co-workers…
- you don’t fit in with your extended family…
- there’s this feeling of being an outsider, a feeling of alienation, or estrangement…
- many of us [maybe all of us] could find ourselves in one of those descriptions…
- now, what would you say if I suggested that there were a series of principles that would help us navigate such situations….
1) Without losing hope
2) Without becoming bitter
3) While holding onto and maybe even strengthening our faith
4) and looking confidently to the future…
- would you want to know about those principles?
- especially if they were very practical and were very easy to apply to the kinds of situations we’ve just described?
- could a study of those kinds of truths be profitable?…
- but here’s the catch.
- what if the principles were not exactly what we would have expected?
- what if made us think, and maybe even made us think differently?
- what if they made us scratch our heads?
- what if they stretched us?
- what if they suggested changes we needed to make in the inner or outer man?
- if you’d say, I’m up for that kind of challenge…then we’ve got a book for you.
- let me invite you to open your Bible to the book of I Peter.
- that’s on page 180 of the back section of the Bible under the chair in front of you…
- we’re beginning a brand new series today on the book of I Peter.
- we’re calling this, “Hope in Everyday Suffering”
- I Peter is a fabulous book of the Bible.
- many Christians say that this is one of their favorite books in God’s Word…
- people who do Biblical counseling, discipleship or soul care will tell you that they often find themselves in this book because there are so many passages here that are filled with practical truth about the key issues of life…
- they’ll also tell you that this book is very Christ centered…so it’s easy to have the balance of finding truths in God’s Word…but applying them in a way that doesn’t simply make one’s life better, but helps us grow in our love for our Lord and Savior.
- I’d like to challenge you to make it a habit of reading the book of I Peter from beginning to end each week.
- it will probably take 15-20 minutes, but knowing the content of the book is an important part of Bible study.
- you also may want to read it from a different version of the Bible each week
- this morning, we want to study the first 2 verses of this great book, and see Hope Because of How Long God Has Cared for Us
- Read 1 Peter 1:1-2.
- we’re talking about what to do when you’re scattered, and I’d like to suggest to you this morning that in these first two verses, we can find three truths about God’s care.
I. God Works in and Through You Despite Your Imperfections.
- one of the things that makes hard times hard times is because they have a way of magnifying our failures.
- they have a way of exposing the weaknesses of our hearts.
- there is a vulnerability to trials and uncertainties that few of us like…
- but you and I can be greatly helped by remembering, that in the midst of that situation…
- we don’t like…
- in the midst of that situation in which we really don’t want to be…
- in the midst of that situation where we feel like an outsider…
- in the midst of that situation that in the past has exposed our weakness….
- God can do something marvelous in and through us.
- in fact, I’m suggesting to you this morning that there is a single word in verse one that proves this point.
- all it takes is one word in this particular verse to remind us, in living Technicolor of the truth I’m suggesting to you this morning.
- Please tell me…what is the word [that reminds us that God can word in and through you despite your imperfections]?
- the word Peter.
- the fact that we’re studying a book that Peter wrote ought to make us feel right at home….why?
- because Peter is often so much like us…we find him saying and doing things in the gospels that well…we probably would have said and done.
- and that by the way, that was true during the life of Christ.
- many times in the gospels we find Peter saying what all the others were thinking…
- and sometimes that was good, and sometimes that was bad.
- but Peter was clearly a leader of the disciples then, and he is a representative of the disciples [like you and me] today.
- even his name reminds us of this principle.
- was “Peter” Peter’s given name?
- no, his given name was Simon…or Simeon.
- well, then who nicknamed him Peter?
- Jesus did….why?
- because the name Peter means stone, or rock…and that illustrated the process that God wanted to accomplish in his life…
- he was taking him from being an impulsive, unpredictable, tempestuous man, and turning him into a stone.
- friends, it would not have been in Peter’s best interest to be left by the seashore in the place where he was born…
- it is was not have been in his best interest to be left in the occupation that came most naturally…
- it would not have been in his best interest to be around people with whom he was most comfortable….
- Jesus himself called Peter to be one of his disciples, and he literally turned his situation upside down and inside out because He had a work to accomplish in Peter’s life.
- and it was a work in progress that included the revelation of all kinds of failures, and all kinds of inconsistencies, and all kinds of misstatements…
- and all kinds of actions and reactions that Peter would later come to regret….
- but for any person here in a difficult situation, or a pressurized situation, or an uncomfortable situation….who has had weaknesses exposed in the midst of the trouble…
- please don’t make the mistake of thinking the best solution would be to remove the trouble…
- please don’t think the best situation is to find a place more comfortable….
- remember Peter….if God wanted to do something in and through a man like that….God just may want to do something through a man or women like you.
- and your imperfections in the past, your weaknesses in the past, your sinful choices in the past…don’t disqualify you from being used of God today.
- if that were the case, the first word in this book would be something other than….Peter.
- now it is also significant that Peter refers to himself how?
- 1 Peter 1:1 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ…
- please don’t think of this as Peter throwing his title or position around….
- the emphasis here is on the fact that he was a messenger, a sent one from Jesus Christ….
- in other words, he had God’s message for troubled people.
- Peter knew that it was the life changing Word of God that had helped transform him…and was continuing to transform him….
- and what these dear men and women needed in the midst of the struggles they were having, was a message from God, was the Word of God…
- and it was the Lord’s plan for that message to come from a man who was still a work in progress…the apostle Peter.
- and that brings us already to one of the first questions of this series…do you really believe God can use you, and wants to use you, in spite of what your suffering may be revealing about your weaknesses?...
- is there anything about your past…or even your present…where if in was known we would all have to write the word hopeless of your photograph?...
- there may be value in us repeating to ourselves…if God used Peter, God can use me…
- and there may also be value in saying…and this is one of the many, many reasons we have to love our Lord…and to want to serve Him…and want to tell others about Him…
- one of the summary comments God’s people have used throughout biblical history to encapsulate God’s character is… 2 Chronicles 7:3 - …Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
- the Lord using Peter in this way screams the message that was true for him…and it screams the message that it’s true for us…God is ready to work in and through you despite your imperfections…
- a second principle that comes out of our text is that:
II. God Knows All Your Circumstances.
- 1 Peter 1:1 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia…
- now I know what you’re thinking….I wish I could see that on a map.
- we anticipated your request.
- I’m actually going to show you three maps, each one gets a little smaller in scope.
- this first one shows Rome [to the left]
- we believe Peter was probably writing from here, we’re not sure of that because later in the book he talks about writing from Babylon…we’ll explain when we get there what that’s all about and why we think he was in Rome.
- but the locations he’s talking about are in modern day Turkey.
- show two other maps.
- now, the $100 dollar questions is, what were these people doing in these areas, and what does the Bible mean by describing them as aliens who had been scattered there?
- the answer is that these dear men and women were living during the persecution of Nero that followed the burning of Rome.
- Here are a couple of paragraphs from the MacArthur Study Bible that should be helpful.
When the city of Rome burned in July, A.D. 64 the Romans believed that their Emperor, Nero, had set the city on fire, probably because of his incredible lust to build. In order to build more, he had to destroy what already existed.
The Romans were totally devastated. Their culture, in a sense, went down with the city. All the religious elements of their life were destroyed—their great temples, shrines, and even their household idols were burned up. This had great religious implications because it made them believe that their deities had been unable to deal with this conflagration and were also victims of it. The people were homeless and helpless. Many had been killed. Their bitter resentment was severe, so Nero realized that he had to redirect the hostility.
The emperor’s chosen scapegoat was the Christians, who were already hated because they were associated with the Jews, and because they were seen as being hostile to the Roman culture. Nero spread the word quickly that the Christians had set the fires. As a result, a vicious persecution against Christians began, and soon spread throughout the Roman empire, touching places north of the Taurus mountains, like Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, and impacting the Christians, whom Peter calls “pilgrims”. These “pilgrims” were probably Gentiles for the most part, possibly led to Christ by Paul and his associates, and established on Paul’s teachings. But they needed spiritual strengthening because of their sufferings. Thus the apostle Peter, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote this epistle to strengthen them.
- now I imagine that most of us went a whole week [and probably a lot longer], without thinking about places like Pontus, and Cappadocia, and Bithynia…but God had allowed these people to be scattered to places like that…and to feel like aliens, or outsiders, or pilgrims in places like that.
- but the point here is…if they believed that God had somehow forgotten them, this book demonstrates otherwise.
- God wanted people even in this condition to receive His strengthening Word.
- you have to wonder how the people living in these places responded when this letter arrived.
- addressed specifically to them….
- right where they were, proving that God knew where they were and hadn’t forgotten about them.
- I wonder if for some of them, that fact alone was somewhat convicting…
- I wonder how many said…
- I’ve been grumbling in the midst of all of this…God has forgotten us…
- I’ve been fretting in the midst of this…God doesn’t care for us…
- I’ve been losing hope, and going backwards spiritually….
- but I was wrong….and this book proves it, God knows exactly where I am.
- friend, do you remember how we began this message today…
- Is there anyone here having any problems?, having troubles or difficulties?
- Is there anyone here who is in a place you don’t really want to be?
- in a job you don’t want to be in…a location, a relationship, a family, a friendship, a marriage…
- is anyone here in a situation where you feel like you don’t really fit in?
- with your neighbors, your co-workers, your extended family…
- there’s this feeling of being an outsider, a feeling of alienation, or estrangement…
- can I ask you about your response to that?
- am I talking to anyone today who has given up hope?
- to anyone who has taken up complaining, griping, worrying, fretting….
- who has picked up some sinful habit to ease the pain or the difficulty…
- am I talking to anyone who has concluded, consciously or not, that God has forgotten you, has left you high and dry?
- can I ask you to take a lesson even from the geography of this book?
- if God didn’t forget these people, He certainly hasn’t forgotten you.
- if He knew exactly where they were, He knows exactly where you are.
[could tell the story of mom letting you walk to the grocery store, but following behind to watch you]
- now, there is one more very important principle in this passage…
III. God Decided Long Ago to Bring You into a Saving Relationship with Him.
- now you might say, PV, I didn’t see that emphasis in the verse.
- it’s there, we just have to work at it a bit.
- please look at the end of verse one and on into verses 2 –
- 1 Peter 1:1–2 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
- this passage is one of the many places in the Bible that speaks about the doctrine of election.
- frankly, this is something that a lot of people argue about, which is unfortunate, because it is spoken of in passages like this one to encourage us, and to help us, and to strengthen us.
- now I’ll tell you right off the bat, there are aspects of all of this that no one fully understands…which is why so many people argue about it.
- but I don’t know about you, but I don’t want a God who I can fully understand, or fully explain…because then He’s not much of a God.
- Isa 55:8-9 – For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.
- now, what does that mean?
- at least two things…
1) there are certain things God does, and ways He does them, that will be different than the way we would have done them.
2) Just because we might not fully understand what God has said doesn’t mean we shouldn’t believe it and benefit by it.
- now, let me try to unravel this as simply as I know how.
- on the one hand, the Scripture makes it clear that salvation is a decision that a human being makes at a particular point in time.
- Romans 10:13 – Whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
- John 3:16 – For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
- 2 Peter 2:9 - The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.
- so clearly, in each one of these passages and many more, salvation is a decision that a human being makes at a particular point in time.
- that’s well and good, except when we factor in what the Bible teaches about the nature of our hearts, left on their own accord.
- Jeremiah 19:9 – The heart is deceitful and desperately wicked, who can know it?
- Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
- Romans 3:10 – There is none righteous, no not one.
- Ephesians 2:1 – And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.
- the point of those verses, and many others is, left on our own, you and I would never choose Christ.
- we were dead in trespasses and sins…dead people don’t move anywhere, and certainly not in a direction that produces new life.
- the point is, apart from God sovereignly working in our hearts and lives, we would have never come to Christ.
- now you might say, but Pastor Viars, I remember when I made that decision…certain things were happening in my life, and I really became interested in the things of God, and I started searching, and I started talking, and on a particular day, I made the decision to come to Christ…
- it felt like it was all me….
- really?….none of us would say that, would we?
- because we know that any good decision we made, and certainly the decision to trust, was a result of Him working in us.
- so what’s the balance between these two ideas?
- I like the illustration of thinking about this like a doorway, that appears to be different, depending on your perspective.
- from our side [from our perspective], the doorway reads “whosoever will shall come”
- but when we walk through that doorway, when we come to trust Christ as savior and Lord…
- from God’s perspective, the doorway reads “chosen before the foundation of the world.”
- apart from God working in us, we would have never made that decision.
- now if you say, PV, that leaves me with some questions.
- feel free to call me, or e-mail me and I’ll be happy to help to the degree that I can….but again, there are some things about the way God works that no one can fully unravel this side of heaven…
- but just because I don’t fully understand something doesn’t I shouldn’t believe it, or benefit from what I can understand…
- that’s the point here….God’s plan to work in us was laid before the foundation of the world.
- when you’re in a situation that is difficult, remember not only that God loves you, but also that He’s loved you for a long time.
A. According to His choice and His foreknowledge
- Peter wanted these persons to remember in their suffering that they had been…
- 1 Peter 1:1–2 - …chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father…
- Pastor Goode used to like to say – God didn’t just start thinking about you yesterday…and we can take great comfort and hope in that idea…
- this concept is emphasized in many other key passages in the New Testament…
- Romans 8:28–29 - And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
- you can also read about this in much greater detail in Romans chapters 9-11 – and if you’d like to do more detailed study – we went through all of this verse by verse in our Sunday morning messages back during the pandemic..
- another key passage is Ephesians 1:4-6 - …just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved.
- now if you say – what’s the balance between divine sovereignty and human responsibility in this matter?...no one can fully explain the mind of God on that question…but we can affirm these two principles…
1. No one who ever wanted to become a Christian was ever prevented from doing so
2. No one was ever forced to become a Christian who didn’t want to be…
- but all of that was initiated by God’s loving hand before the foundation of the world……Peter goes on to say that this was…
B. By the work of the Holy Spirit
- 1 Peter 1:2 - according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit…
- a supernatural act of regeneration had to occur before Peter was willing and able to become a follower of Jesus Christ…he knew that to be the case…and the same is true for people like you and me…
- that’s why all of this is the praise and glory of His grace…not of ours…
- and that’s why people like us can have hope even as we struggle…
- there are supernatural forces at work in all of this…
- and there are supernatural resources available to us to handle whatever we’re facing well
- [if time, discuss the last visit you had with Steve Griese…]
C. With two wonderful results
- 1 Peter 1:1–2 - Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in the fullest measure.
1. We obeyed the gospel and are positioned to obey Christ
- that’s a very important concept…because the gospel isn’t simple a message to hear or a gift to receive – it’s also a command to be obeyed…
- that’s why Paul told the Athenians in Acts 17 - Acts 17:30–31 - Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.”
- [develop how much of what is taught in the rest of this book may require changes in our thoughts and actions – that we don’t like – our positional obedience is what empowers our practical obedience…cf. 1:14]
2. He sprinkled us with the blood of His Son
- this too gives hope as we suffer because God would not have gone to these lengths without an ongoing and eternal purpose in mind…
- that’s what we are – Acts 20:28 - …the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.