If you would, let's open our Bibles to the book of 1 Peter. This morning's message comes from these two very short verses, but nevertheless they are packed with a wealth of information. So we're going to be reading 1 Peter 1, verses 1 and 2. 1 Peter, chapter 1, verses 1 and 2. So let's give attention to the reading of God's Word. 1 Peter, chapter 1, beginning in verse 1. Hear now the Word of the Lord. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to God's elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood, grace and peace be yours in abundance. May God add his blessing to this reading from his holy and inspired word. One of the things that pastors frequently have to do is we have to visit people when they're perhaps at one of the most difficult times in their lives. Whether sometimes it's in the wake of a death in the family, whether sometimes perhaps you're visiting them as they're in the hospital and it's not just some bare procedure but it's perhaps life-threatening illness. And I can't tell you how many times that I've found myself in those circumstances and I find myself at a complete and total loss for words. I mean, after being in the ministry for a number of years, you'd think, well, certainly at each point, maybe you'd be able to come up with something. To a certain extent, that's true, but I still can't tell you how many times I've faced that situation and I think, what on earth do I say? How do you encounter and how do you encourage in the face of tragedy, in the face of difficulty, in the face of trial and tribulation? Perhaps some of you have found yourself in a similar circumstance. Well, those are the very types of circumstances that Peter is addressing his letter. He's addressing his letter to a group of Christians living in what is now modern-day Turkey, sometime perhaps before 70 A.D., a long time ago. But he was addressing them in the midst of great persecution. And when we say persecution, beloved, it's ultimately severe, at least at this point in the history of the church. Many Christians, for professing the name of Christ, they gave up their lives. They lost their jobs. They were estranged from family. And if that weren't enough, this was also a time in which there was a severe famine in the ancient world. I'm sure many of you have suffered great trials and tragedies, but I suspect that few of us perhaps have gone through a famine where you go to bed at night with a pain in your belly, and it's not because you've eaten too much, but it's because you haven't been able to eat much of anything at all. And yet, these are the circumstances that Peter was writing about. And if that's not enough, perhaps if we could throw into the mix, just adding in all the regular difficulties of life that regularly present themselves. So here, Peter was writing to people who were profoundly suffering. So what is it that he says? Well, in many ways, and this may seem odd and perhaps it's just simply a reflection of my twisted thinking, but in many ways I think what Peter does is he does what I can remember from one of my favorite movie scenes out of one of my favorite movies of all time. I'm sure it's a favorite of yours as well, John Wayne and the Green Berets. In that movie there's a scene where John Wayne, he's dressed in his uniform, his tan army uniform, And he's wearing his green beret and he's walking out to the parade ground where all the soldiers are running on by. And he goes and talks to the master sergeant and he says, are these men yours? He says, yes, they are. He says, do you mind if I try them out? And he says, go ahead. And so he yells out to these men as they're going by, who are you? And they yell back in the booming military voice that only a group of men in boots could produce. And they say, airborne, except they yell it really loudly. And then he says, and he calls out to them again, and he says, how far? And they yell back in their booming voice, all the way. You see, one of the things that the military does is it instills in you this idea of remember who you are. Because when you remember who you are, the difficult training that you've been through, In the face of combat, in the face of adversity, you will not be fearful. You will not lose hope because you'll remember who you are and how far you're able to go. Well, in a sense, beloved, that's precisely what Peter is doing here. In these opening verses, he is reminding his recipients, these Christians who are suffering so dramatically and so intensely, He's reminding them of who they are and not how far they can go, but how far Christ will bring them, even in the face of the difficulties and the trials. But what should be of, I hope, great encouragement to us this morning is that despite the fact that Peter has written this almost 2,000 years ago, that the message that was as relevant for his first century audience is still as relevant today as if it had been written just moments ago. So keeping this in mind, beloved, let's look at what Peter says. Let's see how Peter reminds the recipients of this letter as to who they are and how far Christ will carry them. In the beginning here of our passage, our brief two verses, which I think in many ways are like a tightly coiled spring, maybe something like a jack-in-the-box that as soon as you open it up, it just goes everywhere because it is so tightly coiled. Peter, in verse 1, identifies his recipients as those who are strangers in the world. Strangers in the world. Other translations call them exiles. Now, in one sense, you might think, well, how is that an encouragement to these Christians who are suffering so much? I mean, why would he remind them that they have somehow been disconnected from what is precious to them and from what is important to them? I mean, think of it. If you're a stranger in a land, it means that you're far away from home. It means you're away from friends. It means you're away from family. And yet here, Peter says that they are strangers, but he also says that they are scattered. Another translation, and I think reflecting the Greek here, It's the exiles of the dispersion. Exiles of the dispersion. Strangers scattered in the world. What Peter is doing here is he is drawing upon the language of the Old Testament. Because you see, it was ancient Israel, think for example of Daniel living in Babylon, who was an exile, who was a stranger, scattered from the promised land, living at a great distance from what he knew to be home. Except what's interesting here is that Peter is now applying these titles not exclusively to Jews, but he's also applying these titles to Gentiles, to Gentile Christians. And in other words, if I can begin to telegraph a little bit ahead, he is saying that you, beloved saints, are strangers in this world. You, beloved saints, are exiles of the dispersion. Now, how can Peter say this? I mean, many of us are not exiles. We live here in our home country for the most part. Most of us are probably born here, so how can we say that we're exiles or strangers? Well, beloved, I think the first thing that Peter is doing is he's reminding these suffering Christians as to where their citizenship lies. Where their citizenship lies. It lies not here in any earthly kingdom or realm, but instead, as the Apostle Paul says in Philippians 3.20, that our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's saying to these Christians who are suffering, you are strangers in this world. You are citizens of the heavenly kingdom. Heaven is your true home. Think, for example, of the 11th chapter of Hebrews in that famous hall of faith as the author of Hebrews sets out all of the lives of these great saints who glorified Christ in all that they did. And yet here in verse 13 of the 11th chapter of Hebrews, the author says that they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. So here Peter picks up on this theme and he gives them this title of strangers, of exiles, which in many ways begins to tell his recipients what the relationship is to the world. What the relationship is to the world. Let's keep that in the back of our minds. He's reminding them, this is not your home. And you're not home yet. Now in one sense we might begin to think, well, how can this be a source of encouragement? I mean, wouldn't it bring great sadness to us if we knew, hey, we've been separated from that which is dear to us. And thanks a lot, Peter, for reminding us of that, right? But yet he goes on to say that there are strangers in this world scattered about, and he names the various geographies as to where they are. But then he says that they are chosen. They're chosen. You see, if you were reminded that you were simply an exile, simply a stranger in this world, you might think that perhaps something had gone wrong. Perhaps something wasn't quite right, which is what has brought you to this state of alienation, this state of being a stranger in this world. And yet, Peter says, no, you're a stranger in this world, but you have been chosen. You have been chosen by God. Not only chosen by God, but chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. In other words, beloved, it is no accident as to where you find yourself. It's not by chance. It's not because somehow God has forgotten about you. It's not because somehow the forces of evil have gotten the upper hand in the cosmic battle, if you will, between God and Satan. But rather, you have been chosen by God, and as Peter says, according to his foreknowledge. Now, Peter is not saying that God went and looked down the corridors of time, looked into the future, saw that you would pick him, and therefore said, well, if you pick me, then I guess I'll have to pick you. That's not what Peter is saying. Rather, in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, in certain contexts, The word to know means to love. For example, in Genesis 4.1, the text tells us that Adam knew his wife Eve and she bore a son. So to know someone is not simply to have a cognitive knowledge of them. It certainly can mean that in some context. But in this particular case, what Peter is saying is that he's saying, You, beloved saints, are strangers in this world, but you have been chosen by God Himself, who before all time set His love upon you in Christ. So from before you even existed, before you were even a twinkle in your parents' eye, God loved you and He chose you. So, beloved, in many ways I would think that as Peter begins to put on the layer upon layer or wave upon wave of blessings that these Christian saints received, they would begin to receive a bit of hope and encouragement in knowing that in spite of the difficulties, that God had set them apart. He had chosen them. And that Peter was reminding them, this is not your home. Do not worry. You will be brought to the goal of your journeys. You will be brought to the goal and your destination. Now, if this weren't enough, I mean, you could almost say, let's end the sermon here. Sounds like, you know, a good amount of blessing. But yet Peter goes on. And at the beginning of verse 2, we also see that these Christians have received the sanctifying power of the Spirit. The sanctifying power of the Spirit. In other words, they have been set apart not merely by God's choice of them, although that is certainly a blessing in and of itself, but they have been set apart by the sanctifying power of the Spirit. They have been set apart from the world. They have been indwelt by the Holy Spirit. They have been purged of their sins, cleansed of what makes them guilty. And they have been indwelt by God's very Holy Spirit to enable them to live in such a way as it is befitting of a Christian. But in particular, especially in the context of suffering, beloved, I cannot help but think that what Peter is saying here is that you have the very presence of God with you despite the fact that you may be strangers in this world. I mean, how many of us have often thought it's one thing to suffer but it's another thing to suffer by yourself what's one of the worst things that we can do to a person I mean when you hear of people being in prison usually the scandalous thing to hear is that well they were placed in solitary confinement for X number of days or X number of years shutting them off from all human contact because despite the fact that many of us may want to be left alone at times, maybe especially those of you with small children, and that's no comment on my own children. I love them dearly. But as much as you may want to be alone by yourself sometimes, you do not ever want to be separated and isolated and all by yourself for a long time, let alone when things are going badly. And so here, Peter is saying, he is ultimately implying that you're not alone. You have the sanctifying presence of the Holy Spirit who has set you apart, who is enabling you to die to sin and to live unto Christ and to walk in the newness of life. But as Peter adds yet another layer in the latter part of verse 2, we see that the spirituality, if you will, that is supposed to mark the people of God in such dire circumstances is not some sort of generic pious cloud that we walk around as if we look like, well, that person looks really holy, right? Some people, you look at them and you think, oh, wow, they look holy. That's not exactly what Peter has in mind here. It's not some sort of generic mysticism or ill-defined spiritual experience, but rather we have the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ. For obedience to Jesus Christ so that not only are Christians in these difficult circumstances chosen by God, set apart by His love, empowered by the Holy Spirit, but they're empowered by the Holy Spirit specifically for obedience to Jesus Christ. How many times do we find that when things get difficult, that's when things get ugliest around the home? I can tell you at least in my own home, that at least for me personally, it's when things are difficult that I perhaps snap at my children. I'll be impatient. What some people call kick the dog. If I'm kicked, well then I'm going to make sure and kick someone else down the line. In other words, when things get difficult, what is it that's supposed to mark our conduct? Is it that we're supposed to let everything go? That we're supposed to act however we want? After all, the bottom's falling out, so what's the point? Now, Peter says that you have the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ. And notice here, beloved, it is not an obedience that resides within ourselves. It's not that Peter is preaching sola bootstrappa, where you grab yourself by the bootstraps and haul as hard as you can so that you can say, I know I can, I think I can. But instead, it is a reliance upon the indwelling power and presence of the Holy Spirit and what Paul will say in other places in the Scriptures, the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control, that fruit of the Spirit that in the face of difficulties and trials surfaces. and is manifest like a sweet aroma. But notice, that's not all. Sanctifying power for obedience unto Jesus Christ, and that though they are strangers in this world, separated from their heavenly homeland, Peter also says that they have been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ. Now that Peter invokes this language of sprinkling is really important because it's to invoke the covenant language of the Old Testament. It's to invoke the covenant language of the Old Testament. It would be just as soon as me to say, Babe Ruth, and you would immediately have an association of baseball because the two are so intimately connected. So when Peter says sprinkling by the blood or by his blood, It's a familiar phrase that would invoke Israel's covenant history. For these Jews in the churches to which Peter is writing, they would inevitably and most likely think of that covenant ratification ceremony where Moses stood at the foot of Sinai and had the people ratify the covenant that God had given to them and then Moses sprinkled the blood upon the people. In effect, as if to say the deal has been sealed. But beloved, notice that we are not sprinkled and the recipients here are not sprinkled with the blood of any animal, bull or goat, but rather we are sprinkled with the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ which invokes those covenant promises spoken of so powerfully and beautifully in the 31st chapter of Jeremiah where Jeremiah says, that God would make a new covenant with his people, not like the covenant that he made with the forefathers, the one that they had broken when they left Egypt, but instead that he would make it with the whole house of Israel and that he would put his law upon our minds and he would write his law upon our hearts and he has told us, I will be your God and you will be my people. Think of Christ in the upper room when he performed the Lord's Supper and where he administered the Lord's Supper there to his disciples for the first time and he said, this is the blood of the new covenant that is given for you. For the forgiveness of sins. Drink from it, all of you. So what Peter is ultimately reminding them, he's saying is that you are in a covenantal bond with Christ. Moreover, that if God promised in ages past to be your God, even in the face of these trials and difficulties, He has not forgotten you. He has not forsaken you. So here, Peter is just pouring out blessing upon blessing, wave upon wave, which finally brings him to the end of verse 2 where he says, grace and peace be yours in abundance. Perhaps you've seen saints in the midst of difficulties and sufferings and you've noted the great degree of peace that they have in the face of such things. This is what Peter was conveying to his recipients, that though all hell was breaking loose around them, he was giving to them this message of grace and peace, the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ that brings that peace and knowing that all things are working in accordance with the will of God to bring about His desired goals and our greater conformity to the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, beloved, I want us to reflect upon this text because in many ways, as I said, this text is not just simply a message that is meant for an earlier generation so long ago, but rather, beloved, this is a message that is just as relevant for us today, here, this morning. Think about how Peter has taken these Old Testament terms and now he has given them to the church. It was Israel who was chosen out of all the nations of the world to whom God would reveal Himself and His message of redemption. It was Israel that was a nation of strangers and exiles living by the waters of Babylon. And it was Israel that had been dispersed and scattered throughout the nations. And it was Israel that had been sprinkled by the blood of the covenant at the foot of Mount Sinai. But yet now, beloved, through the intervention and through the mediation, the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father is now drawing His beloved, His elect from every people, tribe, tongue, and nation. And now it is the church, we who have this exile status. It is we who are being led to that heavenly Jerusalem. The goal of our redemption is we are led by the Lord Jesus Christ and through the ministry and work and power of the Holy Spirit. It is we, the church of Jesus Christ, who comprise the elect of God that are dispersed throughout the world. It is the church, it is you, beloved, who have been sprinkled by the blood of Jesus Christ, cleansed from sin, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and has had the law of God inscribed upon your hearts and now it is you, beloved people, who offer that obedience unto the Lord Jesus Christ even in the midst of difficulties and trials. In all of these things, what Peter is saying is he is saying, beloved saints, remember who you are. Remember how far and to what great extent God the Father has gone to draw Him to yourself, to redeem you, to guide you, and to lead you. And beloved, if Israel's past is any indication of our future, we know that God brought His people into the promised land just as He had promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob He would do. And so, beloved, that means that you too can know that regardless of the obstacles that you see before you, Nothing, absolutely nothing will keep our faithful covenant Lord from bringing us to the goal of our destination. Which in the end, beloved, means that we are strangers in this world. Think of it this way, that if you were on a cross-country journey and you needed to stop in a hotel along the way because it was a long journey, even in a car, That you would find a Motel 6, pull over, stop in. If you don't like Motel 6, put a different hotel in the blank spot. And then you were to say the next morning, instead of waking up and saying, well, now it's time to proceed with our journey so we can get to the destination. Say you're driving cross-country, coast to coast, and your goal is to step foot in the waters of the Pacific. And you say, you know what, I think I like it here at the Motel 6. I think we'll stay another night. And then before you know it, a night turns into a week, and a week turns into a month, and a month turns into a year. What would you say to the person who said, my goal is to step foot into the Pacific, when you've ended up stuck in a Motel 6 somewhere in Alabama? You'd say, I think you failed to reach the goal of your destination. You've forgotten the purpose of your journey. Well, beloved, have you ever wondered why the Old Testament saints like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, why they always dwelled in tents? It's not because they had to. It's because they wanted to. And it's not just because they were interested in camping, as much fun as that can be. Abraham was wealthy. Have you ever thought of the fact, and I've always loved this as a child, that Abraham, when he went to rescue Lot, he had to outfit his army of some 318 men. I've often thought, I would like an army. That would be fun. I would like to pick out the weapons. That would be really fun. Except if I had to bankroll it, I also know that that would be really expensive. And if those of you with boys in your household know how much boys eat, men eat even more, Abraham had to feed them. So in technical terms, Abraham was loaded. Right? And yet he's living in a tent. You'd think that somewhere along the line, Isaac would have said, come on, man, let's build a house. What's with the tent? I mean, it was fun for the first couple of years, but this is really getting old. No. Why? They knew they were aliens and strangers in this world, exiles, and that they knew that this was not their home, but rather they were waiting for the city whose builder and maker is God. Do you let the affairs of this world so entangle you that you end up stuck at the Motel 6? Or do you keep that heavenly mindedness about you even in the face of difficulties and trials? If we're exiles, beloved, then that means that we're not home. And if I can alter a famous cliche, when in Rome we shouldn't do as the Romans, We've been called and set apart to shine forth the righteousness and the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. We've been sprinkled by His blood so that we would shine forth His obedience, His light in the midst of this dark world. We should not be known as a people that when things get tough, our morality falls apart. But rather we should be known as a people that when things get difficult that's when the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ shines forth the most. Which means that your conduct, beloved, as exiles in this world, those who have been indwelt by the Spirit of Christ and set apart, is to be markedly different than the world around us. So, beloved, I hope that you see by reflecting upon this truth, these truths that Peter presents, how he reminds us of who we are and what is to mark our conduct and how blessed we are. Because I am sure that there are times in your lives when you have thought as if everything was coming apart. Whether it's in the face of death, whether it's in the face of the death of a loved one, whether it's in the face of severe illness and suffering or perhaps long-term illness, perhaps it's financial difficulties, perhaps there are familial struggles, whether it's children suffering difficulties because of sin, whether they're young or old, whatever the case may be, beloved, remember that the Lord, our God, has not forgotten us and that in many ways I can't help but think that what peter says here is ultimately what is echoed in that first question to the heilberg catechism what is your only comfort in death and life and in death that i am not my own but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful savior jesus christ he has fully paid for all of my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil he also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my father in heaven in fact all things must work together for my salvation because i belong to him christ by his holy spirit assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him so beloved saints though this letter was written to Christians long ago I believe I can conclude in this manner to you saints of Escondido United Reformed Church to God's elect strangers in the world scattered throughout the world who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying work of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood grace and peace be yours in abundance amen let's bow together in a word of prayer oh father we are grateful and thankful for indeed you have showered us with blessings we have been so blessed but father forgive us for our short-sightedness because at times oh lord the difficulties the apparent chaos in this world just the exigencies that weigh against us can sometimes drown out our sight of you help us we pray oh Lord that you would lift the eyes of our faith that we would look to the Lord Jesus Christ where he is enthroned at your right hand and that we would recognize that each and every event and moment of our lives has passed and continues to pass through his nail-scarred hands and that we would know that in life and in death that we belong to you through Christ. We pray, O Father, that you would comfort us with these truths that you would give to us even in the face of the greatest trials, difficulties, sadness and mornings that you would convey to us this hope and that you would fill us with grace and peace in great abundance and that through all of these things whether in times of joy or in times of sadness in times of peace or in times of tribulation that we would shine forth the holiness and righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ to the glory of you our triune Lord we pray and ask all of these things in Christ's precious and holy name Amen