This morning we continue our consideration, our study of 1 Peter, the text being 1 Peter chapter 2 verses 11 and 12, and instead of reading verses 11 through 25 as I had indicated in the bulletin, I ask that you turn with me to Matthew 5, the first portion of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, reading the first 16 verses of Matthew chapter 5, and then turning over to our text in 1 Peter chapter 2. Matthew 5 beginning at verse 1 as we now hear the precious word of God. Now when he saw the crowds he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him and he began to teach them saying, blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness for theirs is the kingdom of heaven blessed are you when people insult you persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you you are the salt of the earth but if the salt loses its saltiness how can it be made salty again. It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled by men. You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven we turn over to first peter chapter 2 verses 11 and 12 you recall that just prior to this peter gives that beautiful explanation of what the church is in the sight of god for the sake of jesus in verse 9 he says but you are a chosen people a royal priesthood a holy nation a people belonging to god and then a text in the text verse 11 Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us. Then in the portions following, He gives a description of how God's people in different situations of life might indeed be able to heed His command. Beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ, we have learned through Peter, as I just mentioned, what a privileged position that God has given to His church. She is a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God. This is a position of honor. And then along with it comes a high calling, as Peter continues in verse 9, to declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. A privileged position, which comes with a task. In other words, we are called to let the whole world know about our God and His marvelous deeds. But then how are we to do this? We know that there are different ideas about evangelism in the church today. Different methods, different techniques that are being suggested or taught or put before the churches in order to grow, for example. Some of these we agree with, some we don't. Some we are comfortable with, some we are not. Yet as Christians, I believe that we agree that we are called to declare the praises of God to all the world. That's our calling. And for many, if not most of us, this is hard and it's a frightening thing to do. Maybe some of you have wondered at some point in your life, how can God use me? After all, I can't speak fluently. I don't have enough knowledge of the Bible to be effective. I can't teach or lead a Bible study. I certainly can't do missionary work. For some people, these are legitimate concerns. But for others, they're not. Yet, the Word of God makes it clear in this text that all believers, each and every one, by the grace of God, are able to tell of the glory of God. Each one of us. And the interesting thing is that it's not necessarily in what you say, But it's in what you do. Indeed, as Peter says in chapter 3, we are all to be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in us. We are all to be prepared to speak of that hope. But yet, each one is able to in what you do. Again, the church is God's privileged people who have been given those four titles of honor. The church is the people of God. Now, I want you to think about that for a moment. A simple statement. The church is the people of God. We are God's people. We belong to Him. And Peter's exhortation here is simply this. Be who you are. Be God's people. Be followers of Jesus Christ for the world to see. Display your honorable status to the world. See, God may never use your voice in a teaching or preaching way to proclaim His praises. He might, but He may not. But He uses your obedience 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to get His message out. Remember, the church is a sermon to the world of what God's mercy accomplishes. And each and every believer is also a sermon of God's electing grace. And the context of our being, living sermons, is a battle. There is a war going on. Peter says in Ephesians 6, We wrestle against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. There is a battle raging, and it may not include what we see in the news reports going on over in Iraq. It may not include bombs and suicide bombers and machine guns and fighter jets and tanks and aircraft carriers or any other sort of piece of military iron. But there is a battle and each Christian is or ought to be actively fighting that battle. It's a battle with sin. We know that Jesus Christ has broken the power of sin. But in this life we also know, as Paul makes clear, that sin is always ready to raise its ugly head whenever we least expect it and try to steal that glory that belongs only to God. And therefore, from this text this morning, from this text I preach to you, privileged pilgrims do battle for the glory of God. And notice there is an inward reality, there is an outward direction, and there is an upward goal. Peter says again in verse 11, Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul. Now Peter gives a beautiful address here which is not uncommon for him or the biblical writers, the writers of the epistles especially. He addresses those who are intimately related to God through the Lord Jesus Christ as the church is. Here he says, Dear friends, also translated, Beloved. Those loved by God. What a beautiful address, and you ought to consider it a most beautiful address when you are addressed as beloved congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ. There is no more beautiful address that you could receive. Those who are intimately related to God through Christ, as the church is. Peter says, dear friends, I urge you. And the word urge can also mean to beseech, to beg, to plead, to earnestly appeal. You see, Peter is not just asking them or simply suggesting to them that they might do something. Take it for what it's worth, but I make this suggestion. No, Peter is saying, because you are who you are. That is, because you are God's people. It is imperative. it is extremely important, it is essential that you follow these instructions as aliens and strangers in the world to abstain from sinful desires which war against your soul. Now by addressing them as dear friends, or again beloved, Peter is reminding them and us, the church, of their relationship to God. And at the very same time, by calling them aliens and strangers, He is also reminding the church, reminding Christians of their relationship to the world. An alien is a boarder, we might say in the sense of a renter, one who lives in a family, in the house, but does not belong to the family. He has no integral place in the house. He has no status, really, and cannot expect an inheritance. The believer is in the world, but not of the world, an alien. A stranger then is one who is traveling through a country but does not belong to that country. He never settles down. He never builds a permanent house. Instead, he pitches his tent day by day after day after day after day. These privileged pilgrims, as we have called them, all Christians, are not at home on this earth. Our spiritual citizenship is not of this earth, But it is in heaven. That's our home. This is only our temporary dwelling place. And our foundation, beloved, is not to be found here. Because our foundation is Jesus Christ, that choice and precious cornerstone as we considered before. See, Peter is saying, now that you know who you are, that privileged position, This is what you are to do. Because you are not citizens of this world, you may not, in fact, you must not partake of the rights of the citizens of this dark world. Those rights that violate the Word of God. The citizens of this world exercise their sinful desires. But you, because you are God's people, you must abstain from these sinful desires which war, we might say, which wage war, actively wage war against your soul. You see, the inward reality, the inward reality is that you are God's people. And at the same time, you are aliens and strangers in the world. And yet at the very same time, there is a battle going on inside of you attacking your soul. When Peter says sinful desires, He's talking about all sinful appetites. Any you can think of, selfishness, greed, sexual immorality, you can name it. He's talking about anything that interferes with complete and supreme devotion to God. And this is also a reminder of their former way of life. In chapter 1, verse 14, Peter had said, As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. And then Paul gives a list of the lust of the flesh. This symbol, Desires, is also translated in that way, lust of the flesh. Paul gives a list in Galatians 5. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like. of which I tell you beforehand just as I also told you in times past that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Anything that is done with a selfish or an evil motive and intent, anything that is done to the hurt of fellow man so that you can gain, anything that does not proceed from true faith and is not done to God's glory is a sinful desire, a lust of the flesh. And Peter says, abstain from this. abstain from this that is restrain yourself keep away from doing these things don't get as close to it as you can don't indulge in this kind of behavior because this kind of behavior is not characteristic of one who belongs to God and is called to be holy because God is holy it does not fit with true Christianity That means that we must be aware of our surroundings, congregation. At all times, we must always know what is going on around us. And why is this important? Because these fleshly lusts are not from the Father. John makes it clear in 1 John 2, they're from the world. And those who indulge in these things are friends of the world, which means they're not friends of the Father, of God. And because these fleshly lusts are not from the Father, they wage war against your and my regenerated soul. Remember that battle. It's going on inside each and every Christian, and it is a battle that continues each and every day. There's never any ceasefire, and there won't be until this earthly life is over. Satan is still hard at work. Peter makes that clear. He is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. It's a life-threatening situation. He's going for the kill. He knows full well that he can never snatch Christ's sheep out of his hand, but he doesn't believe it. He still tries. And Satan knows that there are those who act like sheep, who claim to be a part of the body of Christ, the church, but who are really only wearing sheepskins. And therefore, against the church, Satan fires the poisonous arrows of the lust of the flesh, trying to get some to blend in with the world, to become a part of it. putting a bowl over their light, removing their saltiness, thereby destroying their souls. And we need to understand, congregation, that that's Satan's intention. He's not just a little red man with horns and a pitchfork in his hand. He's deceptive. He's terrible. We must know his intention, And therefore we are not to even play with fire. Those who belong to God through Jesus Christ are to abstain from these sinful desires. How? Well, not in our own strength. Because I think if each one of us is honest, we would have to admit that we've tried it. We can't. We fall, sometimes daily. Our own strength doesn't even begin to be sufficient. We can only abstain by drawing strength from our life source. Peter has made it clear that the church of Jesus Christ is the object of God's mercy and His divine tenderness. God's people have been set apart by God's electing love, and now as those who have received mercy, we are to draw our strength and motivation from that love of God through Jesus Christ by the power of the Spirit and live differently among those who have not tasted God's mercy. We are to be in the world, live in the world, but we may not and we must not form an intimate attachment to it. We get so easily attached to our summer homes and our winter homes and our motor homes. Not that these things are sinful in and of themselves, but we've got to be careful, you see? And as those who confess the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and profess to be God's people, we are called to engage into that warfare. And we know that Satan's attacks can be so subtle, he tempts our flesh through the television. Again, let's be honest. Let's say it outright. Underwear commercials. Or bathing suit commercials. They weren't there the way they are today 30 years ago or so. And we're not shocked by it anymore, are we? It's just there. It's before our eyes. We don't even think about it. He tempts us in subtle ways through the television, through the movie theater, by putting the best sales and offering the greatest deals on Sunday. Through music as well. Through what we read. He uses the little things of life to try to get you and me to compromise. And often we don't even think we are compromising at the time. We don't see it. but our God prepares us to stand strong with His very own suit of armor, that precious armor of God. See, beloved, we are quick to fight against enemies that seek to do us bodily harm. If our physical body is in danger, we put up our guard. But we often willingly allow enemies to attack our souls. Yet again, often we don't even know it. But by God's grace and in the strength of the Holy Spirit, God's people put on that armor and must rule over evil desires and avoid evil desires. And we must constantly think, even as boys and girls and young people, we must constantly think, how does this situation in my life that I'm facing right now, how does that fit with my Christian profession? And then even though this battle of rage is inside, Each one of us. It's not private in there. It is played out in an arena. And that is the arena of the pagans, Peter says. Of the Gentiles. You see, beloved, our abstaining is to be seen. It's to be visible. There is an outward direction here. Peter says, live such good lives among the pagans. Or as it's also translated, keep your behavior excellent among the pagans. And the opposite of excellent behavior is behavior that practices sinful desires. God's people are not to exercise the sinful desires, but instead they are to exercise excellence or good behavior. And Peter is again reminding them of what he had said earlier in chapter 1, verse 15, but just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. And we remember that he's talking about their whole manner of life, their conduct, their motives and desires and their actions and their attitudes and everything else about God's people must reflect the light of Jesus Christ. That new birth. That new life. Their conversation must be seasoned with salt. God's people must be living testimonies to those around them. And our conduct and our confession must never be a stumbling block to others. And that means that as those who profess to be God's people, our outward testimony must be a reflection of our inward testimony. Is that a tall order? Absolutely. We can never let our guard down. Young people, the Christian life, it takes work. With all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength, by the power of the Holy Spirit. Very simply, beloved, God's people are held to a higher standard. And it takes work and effort to live up to that standard of holiness. We might say, well, why? Whose business is it anyway other than my own? Peter makes it very clear here. There's a very important reason why there is an outward direction. Christians must, by the grace of God and in the strength of the Holy Spirit, put forth that effort for the glory of God and for the sake of those around us. Pagans, we know, refers to non-Christians. Unbelievers. That world whose principle of life is governed and controlled by sin. We live among them. We interact with them day by day. We do business with them. We have them as neighbors. And that's why our behavior as Christians must be excellent and noble and praiseworthy and sincere because you and I are being watched. And as Peter says, their response, the world's response to Christians is that they accuse you and me of wrongdoing. You see, when the world looks at Christians, they don't like what they see because they see behavior, or at least they should see behavior that's different than their behavior. And deep down, they know that their behavior is wrong. They don't admit it. Therefore, they accuse Christian behavior, trying to make it look bad. And the thing is, congregation, the truth of following Jesus Christ exposes the lie of following Satan. The light of Jesus Christ shines bright and therefore, we know what light does, it exposes the darkness of the devil. And unbelievers don't like their sin uncovered, but neither do we, right? That's not so fun. When you confess Jesus Christ as your Savior and the Lord of your life, then it's far from fun when you do sin and you get caught by someone else and they bring it to your attention. It's embarrassing. Hopefully more than that, it's humbling. Humbling. But that's exactly what the world is trying to do. We live in glass houses, each and every one of us, with every move that we make being watched and scrutinized by our ungodly neighbors and by our unbelieving co-workers. This is a fact. It's a fact and you cannot run from it. It's a fact. And did you ever notice that even though the world may not do what is right, so often they do know what is right. Maybe you've had this experience. It's not uncommon when a Christian does something wrong, when he makes a mistake, when he sins for an unbeliever who noticed that to say, uh-uh, you shouldn't have done that. As if to say it doesn't fit with who and what you profess to be. And we know it. We know it. And beloved, in the midst of this high calling, in the midst of this very difficult calling, when we know that we're not perfect and we fall at every turn, Sometimes, every day, our comfort is that for those who look to the Lord Jesus Christ and confess their sins, even on a daily basis, there is forgiveness with God. And He restores to you and me the joy of that salvation. And therefore, we can go forward with boldness, not with arrogance, but with boldness, striving to live the way God's Word commands us as those who are born again for the sake of Christ Jesus. See, beloved, as Paul says in Romans 1, all men are without excuse because all men have a sense of God within them, given to them by God. But they suppress that truth and they exchange that truth for the lie. And therefore, even though they know that Christians are not evildoers, they know it. Yet as Peter says, well, they love to call us hypocrites. But as Peter says, they accuse you of wrongdoing. They try to make Christians out to be the bad guys. In the early New Testament church, Christians were accused of being atheists because they believed in an invisible God, whereas the world deified the emperor. Boys and girls, the wicked world, the unchurched world, said that the emperor, he is a god. And Christians were also accused of being cannibals because of their confession that in the Lord's Supper, the bread represents the body of Christ and the wine represents His blood and they were cannibals then because that meant they were eating the body and drinking the blood of Christ. Now, we're not saying anything at this part about false understandings of the elements. But that's the way it was. And they were also accused of being anti-government since they put the law of God over the law of man. Christians were made out to be intolerant, non-law-abiding evildoers. And of course, we know that the charges against God's people were totally untrue. But the world couldn't find any real evidence against them, so they had to take what was true and twist it around to make it look like Christians were really bad for society. And this is true in all ages today, too. The world is waiting, looking for reasons to slander the church of Christ. To accuse you and me of being evildoers. We've seen that in our political process even recently. I was reading in the paper this week that there's a portion of the American society that is upset because they believe the elections, the outcome was based on morals of all things. And we're seen as being, God's people are seen as being un-American. And those who want to take away the freedoms and the rights of the rest of America. And the world often looks at believers, maybe sometimes is justified, and thinks that we like to think that we're a little better than the rest. I'm told of a little story in the first service, Mark Bousma, and maybe Jim Brook will remember that when we were in high school at the time in northwest Iowa, the school from my hometown, when we would play basketball against them, for example, from our high school, they would show up, whether in our gymnasium or in theirs, show up with post-toasties boxes, and they would wear them on their head. Silly, yeah. And finally, when we figured out what that was all about, we were reminded that maybe years before, the post-toasties advertisement said that the post-toasties is a little better than the rest. And therefore, we were being accused of thinking that we were a little better than the rest. Maybe to our shame. Maybe we acted that way. I certainly hope not. But that's the way the world often sees it, you see. But the same thing is happening in the church, isn't it? Because we aren't willing to compromise what the Bible says and accept the wrong interpretations of others and accept the openly wicked and sinful lifestyles of others that contradict Scripture and all those other things that the modern evangelical church says that we must do in order to grow. Because we aren't more accepting of the choices of others and because we desire to stand firm on the truth of God's Word and call sin for what it is. Sin. And call sinners to repentance. We are labeled then as intolerant schismatics by others in the visible church. But we must continue to let God's Word ring in our ears. You shall be holy, for I am holy. Which means, first of all, to understand God's holiness, His purity, His total separateness, complete separateness from sin. What other reason do we need? There is none. But God has given His people the responsibility because of the taunting and the persecution and the false accusations of the world. Because of that, God has given to you and me the responsibility all the more to labor, to work, to wipe off the false charges attached to the name Christian. To prove the world wrong. And to do this by a holy life and a well-regulated conduct. And as Paul says to Timothy, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak reproachfully. That means that we are to live guarded lives so that the world cannot find anything to talk about. It means we must not, for example, simply be Sunday Christians. Peter says in chapter 2, verse 15, For it is God's will that by doing good, you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. As God's people, we are called by His grace to strive for such exemplary conduct. Not because that puts us a little higher on the ladder leading to heaven. Not at all. but so that any false accusations made against the church and against God's people and against the gospel have no foundation. And you know what that means, for example, when you are caught in sin, especially by the world, using the excuse, nobody's perfect, that won't do. We must confess our sin because the world sees that too, don't they? The battle is real. It's a battle inside each of God's people. It's a fight for the soul. And Satan's heavy artillery is the watching world. But the battle has already been won, hasn't it? By our Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why you and I as believers can go forward in confidence because we know as we sing that the soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, He will not desert. He will not forsake it. Yet as Satan continues to work to try to convince a few more to join him, those who have been born again of imperishable seed to a living hope are called to be soldiers in the army of the Lord. God has called us to live that antithesis in the world openly so that he may be glorified. That's the upward goal. That's the upward goal. Peter says again in verse 12, live such good lives among the pagans that though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us. As Christians, stand firm against the false evil speaking of the world. That strength and that endurance that we enjoy, which we know only comes from the Holy Spirit of God, that strength and that endurance that we exhibit to the world is also seen by them. That joy that we have in sorrow. That comfort that we have in sickness. That peace that we have in anxiety. As we said yesterday in the funeral service for Jennifer Bootsman, the fact that God's people can mourn with hope. That's also seen by the world. They begin to see the unshakable confidence of God's people and they begin, at least some of them, begin to wonder, how it is possible to keep the faith. What do they have anyway? Your good works, beloved. Those Christian qualities of the Beatitudes begin to shine bright like a lamp on a lampstand. They begin to flavor as salt and make the world thirsty. Peter echoes the words of our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount. And that upward goal is that God may be glorified in the day He visits us. The goal is not, I repeat, that goal, it is not that you and I be complemented for our faith. Oh, you're such a good Christian. I really appreciate that about you. That's not to be our goal. But our goal is that men may be drawn to God. To the Lord Jesus Christ. That God may be glorified. Is that what your conduct accomplishes? Does it draw attention to yourself? Does it draw others to God? Or does it draw others away from God? You see, God in His mercy and in His wisdom uses the faithfulness of His people to draw in those others whom He has chosen. That separated, that different life of the Christian is one of the most powerful tools God uses to convict the world of its sin and bring them out of darkness into His wonderful light. And then when God visits them with His grace and mercy and converts the lost, then they recognize the beauty of the excellent behavior of that life which has lived for the Almighty King. And they too give God all praise and glory. But one day, on that judgment day, even those who were not brought into the fold will recognize the glory and the majesty of God and they will recognize that they indeed falsely accuse God's people. But they too will glorify God in their eternal destruction. Paul says in Philippians 2, that every knee shall bow before the King of kings and the Lord of lords. God's people in belief, but many in unbelief. Yet, they will not be able to help but acknowledge the glory of God. Beloved, you could call all of this abstinence evangelism. Abstinence evangelism. Yet this is far from being passive because there is no such thing as passive Christianity. There is only active Christianity. We are to be active in glorifying God through our Christian life while we actively abstain from the sinful desires of the world with the goal of flavoring the world so that they too might glorify their Creator. You see, for the child of God, for the Christian, there is no such thing as a private life. you must be seen. And if you prefer to hide your light under a bowl, if you prefer to live in the darkness without being seen, then maybe, you've got to ask yourself, maybe you don't have the light of Jesus Christ in you. If that's the case, then this life of darkness is just a foretaste of the eternal darkness that you're headed for. And if that describes you this morning, you're called to repent of your sins, to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ alone and come to the light of Jesus today and then live boldly for Him. Congregation, beloved of our Lord Jesus Christ, stand up for Jesus. Shine for Jesus. By the grace of God, boldly and openly live not in the way that the world says is socially acceptable, but in the way that God commands. Live for Jesus before the eyes of a watching world. Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, your Christian lifestyle, and glorify your Father in heaven. What a way, what a way to say thank you to God for such a great salvation. You see, the battle belongs to the Lord, and He will be glorified. Amen. Shall we pray? Dear Heavenly Father, help us to stand firm for You. It's so easy to shrink under the pressure that is put upon Your people from the world. It's so easy to cover our light so that the world doesn't recognize that there's something different about us. It's so easy to do that simply to avoid any sort of confrontation. Yet, Father, You've taught us at the gospel of Jesus Christ. The truth is a stumbling block to those who do not believe and therefore your people will be of necessity stumbling blocks to the world. But at the very same time, may we be a demonstration to the world through what we say and by what we do of the mercy and grace of God in our lives. May we be quick, O Lord, to tell those with whom we have contact of the love of God for those who turn to Him in repentance and faith. Oh, Lord, give us boldness. A boldness that so many of us lack. And also give us the words that only You can give us to tell the truth of the glory of Jesus Christ. And continue, Father, throughout this life to prepare us for glory as we look forward to giving to You the perfect worship that You deserve. and require. In Jesus' name we pray these things. Amen.