INTRODUCTION: THIS WEEK WE CONTINUE OUR BACKGROUND STUDY OF 1 PETER. STARTING NEXT WEEK WE WILL SYSTEMATICALLY GO THROUGH THE BOOK, STUDYING EACH CHAPTER.
LAST WEEK YOU WILL REMEMBER THAT WE LOOKED AT PETER'S BACKGROUND AS A DISCIPLE. PETER WAS THE LEADER OF THE DISCIPLES, THE FIRST TO SPEAK AND BOTH GOD AND SATAN SPOKE THROUGH HIM. HIS BELIEF AND DETERMINATION THAT JESUS WOULD SET UP HIS KINGDOM ON EARTH CAME TO AN END IN A PRETTY ROUGH WAY. THAT TOUGH EXPERIENCE CAUSED HIM TO LOSE HIS ANCHOR FOR A BIT, BUT ULTIMATELY RESULTED IN THE TRUE CONVERSION OF HIS HEART. IN LUKE 22:31 JESUS SAW THE DIFFICULT TRIAL OF PETER'S FAITH, TOLD PETER THAT HE WOULD PRAY THAT HIS FAITH WOULD NOT FAIL, AND INSTRUCTED PETER THAT WHEN HE CAME THROUGH THIS TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE, HE SHOULD "STRENGTHEN HIS BROTHERS". OUR LESSON SUGGESTS THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT PETER IS DOING WHEN HE WROTE 1 PETER. I. INTRODUCTION A. READ 1 PETER 1:1. WHEN PETER STARTS OUT HIS LETTER, "PETER, AN APOSTLE OF JESUS CHRIST," WHAT IS HE SAYING? (FIRST, THAT HE IDENTIFIES HIMSELF. SECOND, BY SAYING THAT HE IS AN APOSTLE OF JESUS, HE IS REALLY SAYING THAT HIS MESSAGE IS FROM GOD.) B. SOME THEOLOGIANS DISPUTE THAT IT WAS ACTUALLY PETER THE APOSTLE WHO WROTE THIS BOOK. 1. DOES IT MATTER TO YOU WHO WROTE THIS BOOK? 2. SOME COMMENTATORS ON THE BOOK HAVE SAID THAT THIS FALSE CLAIM WAS A "HARMLESS LITERARY DEVICE."(SEE SELWYN pp.42-44) (YES, IT MATTERS. IF PETER THE APOSTLE DID NOT WRITE (OR DICTATE) IT, THEN THE BOOK STARTS OUT WITH A LIE -- ON A VERY FUNDAMENTAL MATTER: THE AUTHORITY OF THE BOOK.) C. LETS LOOK AT THE RECIPIENTS OF PETER'S LETTER. WHAT DOES PETER SAY ABOUT THEM IN VERSE 1 (JUST v.1): (WRITE) 1. GOD'S ELECT 2. STRANGERS IN THE WORLD 3. SCATTERED. D. WHAT DOES IT MEAN THAT THE RECIPIENTS ARE "GOD'S ELECT?" (THAT GOD HAS CALLED THEM AND THEY RESPONDED. SO THESE ARE CHRISTIANS.) E. "STRANGERS IN THE WORLD." THEY ARE LOCATED IN THE MODERN AREA OF TURKEY. WHY ARE THEY STRANGERS? (IT APPEARS THAT THEY WERE NOT IN CHRISTIAN AREAS.) F. WHEN PETER SAYS THAT THEY ARE "SCATTERED," WHAT DO YOU THINK HE MEANS? WHAT DO WE LEARN ABOUT THESE PEOPLE BASED ON THE STATMENT THAT THEY ARE SCATTERED? (THE IDEA IS THAT THEY WERE ISOLATED INDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS IN A LARGE AREA.) (IT SOUNDS LIKE A REFERENCE TO THE JEWS WHO WERE SCATTERED FROM THEIR HOMELAND. ALTHOUGH PETER MIGHT HAVE BEEN WRITING (AT LEAST IN PART) TO JEWS, OUR LESSON AND OTHER COMMENTATORS SUGGEST THAT THE MAJORITY OF THESE PEOPLE WERE GENTILES.) G. THE BIG PICTURE HERE IS THAT THESE PEOPLE WERE ALONE IN AN UNFRIENDLY LAND. II. ELECTION A. IN VERSE 2, PETER CONTINUES WITH HIS THEME OF ELECTION: READ. B. LETS DIAGRAM THIS AND SEE WHAT WE LEARN: 1. WHO AMONG THE GODHEAD ARE INVOLVED IN THIS ELECTION? 2. WHAT ROLE DO THEY PLAY? (FATHER ---- CHOSE US BASED ON FOREKNOWLEDGE SPIRIT ---- SANCTIFIES US FOR: a)OBEDIENCE; b)SPRINKLING BY BLOOD. JESUS ----- PROVIDES THE BLOOD.) 3. WHICH OF THESE ARE ESSENTIAL FOR SALVATION? (1:3 SUGGESTS THAT WE ARE GIVEN THE NEW BIRTH INTO AN INHERITANCE IN HEAVEN.) 4. DOES OBEDIENCE COME THROUGH THIS SANCTIFICATION OF THE SPIRIT? 5. DISCUSS. C. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELVES TO BE "ELECTED?" (IN EPH.1:4 PAULS WRITES, "FOR HE CHOSE US IN HIM BEFORE THE CREATION OF THE WORLD TO BE HOLY AND BLAMELESS IN HIS SIGHT IN LOVE HE PREDESTINED US TO BE ADOPTED AS HIS SONS THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS PLEASURE AND WILL.." THE IDEA IS THAT WE ARE ALL "ELECTED," BUT THE "ELECT" ARE THOSE WHO RESPOND. 1PET.1:2) D. SO WE SEE BOTH THE EXTERNAL AND INTERNAL SITUATION OF THE RECIPIENTS OF THIS LETTER: 1. THEY ARE SCATTERED AND ISOLATED IN A HOSTILE WORLD. 2. THEY HAVE CHOSEN GOD, HAVE CLAIMED CHRIST'S BLOOD AND ARE EXPERIENCING THE SANCTIFYING WORK OF OBEDIENCE.) E. YOU WOULD THINK THAT BECAUSE OF THE EXTERNAL SITUATION OF THESE PEOPLE THAT THEY WOULD BE ANXIOUS. WHAT DOES v.2 SUGGEST CAN BE THEIRS? (GRACE AND PEACE--IN ABUNDANCE!) 1. HOW? (THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE THAT COMES FROM THE FIRST PART OF v. 2.) III. WHERE PETER WROTE. A. LETS TURN NOW TO THE END OF THE BOOK AND READ 5:13. IT WAS CUSTOMARY TO ADD THE GREETINGS OF THOSE WHO WERE WITH THE AUTHOR AT THE TIME OF THE WRITING. FOR EXAMPLE, I MIGHT SAY AT THE END OF A LETTER TO MY MOM, "MARGIE AND THE KIDS SAY, 'HI' TOO." B. DOES THIS SOUND LIKE REVELATION TO YOU? (REV. 18 REFERS TO BABYLON AS "SHE" (v.2) AND A CITY (v. 10.)) 1. SO WHO IS "SHE?" (GODS PEOPLE OR CHURCH ARE SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS A WOMAN. REV. 12:16 & 17; EZEK 16:13 (PUTS JEWELRY ON HIS PEOPLE.) 2. AND WHAT IS "BABYLON?" (BECAUSE THE ROMANS WERE OPPRESSING THE JEWS, SIMILAR TO THE WAY THAT BABYLON HAD OPPRESSED THEM, "BABYLON WAS A NICKNAME THEY USED FOR ROME. IN FACT ROMAN WRITERS ALSO USED THIS TERM FOR ROME BECAUSE OF ITS LUXURY AND DECEDANCE. (MARSHALL, 1 PETER, p.175) C. SO PETER WROTE HIS LETTER TO THESE OUTLYING AREAS FROM THE CITY OF ROME. IV. NEXT WEEK: WE START OUR SYSTEMATIC STUDY: 1 PETER 1:3-5
