Latest / HBCWestminster / Hallie G. (August 15 2018)

Transcript

Hallie G. (August 15 2018) · HBCWestminster

• 0:00
  1 Peter 5. We're doing the whole final chapter, and I've called it Final Exhortations. Last week we talked about persecution, and I called it, I don't know that I said it out loud, but I wrote it on your paper, called A Guaranteed Experience. And you'll see tonight, again, as we go through this final chapter, how woven together his whole letter is. It's amazing. I don't know if those of you who were here last year for 1 Thessalonians,
• 0:28
  I showed a, it's kind of a drawing cartoon of, it's called The Bible Project. It's done by Francis Shannon. I was going to show it again tonight, but 1 Peter's is kind of long. I didn't know if we would have time. But if you're interested, you write that down, The Bible Project, and it's all online. And you just watch it. I think it's eight minutes. And it's a summary of 1 Peter. And you can watch them on any book of the Bible. It's really good.
• 0:57
  My kids watch it. I have them do it. I watched it I don't know how many times for First Peter just because I like to have it all glued together in my head. It's really well done. Bible Project is what it's called. You can find it on YouTube and on their website. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Okay.
• 1:29
  I've seen the stuff, but... Okay, I will. Thank you, Sharon. Okay. Tonight, Peter, the pastor, the apostle, the rock, the cornerstone of the church, has some final exhortations. And I wrote three of them on there. I'm just going to tell you up front what they are. Number one is Peter's exhortation to the elders. Exhortation to the elders. Point two is exhortation to be humble.
• 2:05
  And then the last one is the exhortation to be vigilant. Vigilant. So tonight he is. He's summing up his letter and he's giving these final exhortations. And the word exhortation actually means to come alongside and to encourage in a certain direction. So think of that as we go through. That's what Peter's doing. He wants to come alongside you. He's coming alongside that church.
• 2:33
  the believers in Rome that we've been talking about, and he's encouraging them in a certain direction. And sometimes we have to exhort people in our lives, right? We have to exhort our friends and our family members around us. And we are usually only effective in doing that if we have been pouring into those same people. Have you noticed that? If you have to exhort somebody, if you have to tell them, oh, I think you need to move this way, they are...
• 2:59
  more able to receive that from you if you have been pouring into them. Our pastor from our old church used to say that you have to make deposits before you can make a withdrawal. And Peter has certainly proven to us on his deposits, right? The deposits that we've been reading and making and that he was giving to this church. And we can receive his exhortations tonight.
• 3:24
  Because we have benefited from his letter and I think we've felt the pain and seen the suffering, the things that he has gone through. So there's validity in his statement. Let's look at verse 1. Actually, I'll read the whole thing and then, no, I'm going to break it up because it's too long. Let's walk through verse 1 together. So, I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.
• 3:55
  Throughout his letter, Peter has certainly used imagery, and tonight you're going to see it in a bigger way in chapter 5. And he is going to use these images that link his first century believers to what he was saying. He's going to talk about being a shepherd and being a sheep. He's going to talk about sheep and shepherds, which is not a new thing in the Bible, right? But you need to understand, I don't know much about sheep or shepherding, right? They would have all just understood it, right? They would have understood it.
• 4:26
  commonplace for them. I was trying to think of an example. It would be, there are so many things about Colorado, for instance, that I didn't understand until I came, right? You could have been talking to me when I lived in California and I wouldn't have been able to see it. I didn't understand it because I wasn't there. And it's important for us to take this imagery and understand it on a first century believer kind of way so that we can understand God's word in a deeper way. Does that make sense?
• 4:54
  Look for the imagery tonight that Peter is using, and try to put yourself in their place and use that perspective to help you understand. So Peter's first exhortation is to the elders, and he's going to use, like I said, the imagery of being a shepherd. So let's read verses 1 through, I read verse 1, so I'm going to continue on through verse 4. So I exhort the elders among you as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed.
• 5:21
  Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you. Not for shameful gain, but eagerly. Not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Okay, so I'm sure you guys have heard of sheep. We are sheep. We're called sheep a lot in the Bible, Old Testament and New Testament, and shepherds.
• 5:51
  Our elders and pastors are called shepherds. Well, I found this little piece on sheep, and I want you to, it's a quote, and I want you to hear it, okay? And then, again, place yourself in this understanding of how Peter would have written this letter to the sheep. And remember that you are a sheep, right? That's what the Bible calls you. And we all, like sheep, have gone astray, right? I just, the depth of God's word.
• 6:19
  That it's so applicable on every level and then it's amazing to me. So here we go. Sheep. It is no accident that God has chosen to call us sheep, wrote W. Philip Keller. The behavior of sheep and human beings is similar in many ways. Sheep do not just take care of themselves as some might suppose. They require more than any other class of livestock, endless attention and meticulous care. For example, God has created most animals with an uncanny instinct to find their way home.
• 6:49
  But if sheep stray into unfamiliar territory, they become completely disoriented and cannot find their way back home, as in the Lord's poignant parable of the lost sheep. Sheep need a shepherd to guide them, provide for them, protect them, and sometimes also to rescue them from harm. Sheep spend most of their time eating and drinking. But if they become lost, they are helpless to find adequate food and water. And I love this. Left to themselves, sheep will indiscriminately eat both healthful and poisonous plants.
• 7:17
  or overgraze and ruin their own pasture, and they need to be led to water that is not impure and stagnant, not too hot or not too cold. Sheep are much in need of other assistance as well, because their wool secretes a large volume of oily lanolin that permeates their fleece. Much dirt, grass, windblown debris, everything clings to it. Since they have no ability to clean themselves, they remain soiled until the shepherd comes and shears them.
• 7:45
  Until he cleans them. Now, I have heard lots of sermons talking about sheep and shepherd, but I had never really, I mean, I know that's true, but to think about it that way, how deep that is, right? And to think about the Lord in our lives, that we are not clean unless he does it for us, right? That's powerful. And when you look at these verses and what it's calling elders to do, it gives us a depth of understanding.
• 8:17
  These first four verses talk specifically to elders, and it tells elders to do three things. Or to not do, in one case. But three things, right? And elders are not just pastors. It's elders, shepherds, men who are over the church, right? And it calls them to these three things. To be willing, to not be greedy, and to be examples. Those are the three things in these verses that I see. I read this quote. God wants volunteers, not pressed men.
• 8:48
  I mean, that's really good, and I think it doesn't just count for men and elders. God wants volunteers, not people who are pressed into doing something. And what I want us to understand from these verses is that being an elder or a pastor of a church is not a prestige position. It's not, hey, you've done a good job, you've been here for a while, you should automatically, right? That's not what it's about. It isn't about privilege or popularity. It is a calling, and they are called to care for the people.
• 9:17
  that God puts underneath them. And then they have to give an answer for how they delivered that care, right? There's a high calling here. And I want you to think about what we've been studying. You think about the elders of Peter's church in Rome. Do you think they were pumped to be elders? Were they signing up for an easy job? No, not at all. In fact, it was a, I think, a deep breath. I don't know.
• 9:45
  If I can do that, right? If you think about the persecution, the things that were going on, to be an elder would have meant hardship, would have meant danger, would have meant contempt from the very people they were trying to help. It would have meant persecution, rejection. It would have meant burden, right? But if you're called to do it, there's blessing in that. I just want us to understand that that's the position, right?
• 10:15
  Let's look at two verses. Let's go to Acts 14.23. So in Acts, this isn't the verse, but Acts is the first place it talks about elders. And there's a precedent set for planting a church and establishing elders. And this is just a little side note. There's a, I don't want to say faction, a push in a lot of younger believers.
• 10:49
  for this house church kind of movement, which isn't wrong. They certainly were meeting in houses. But I think that there's a precedent set for churches to have elders. And I think there are young people starting churches who don't see the importance in this. And it's in Acts. I don't know if that makes sense. That was just a side note. That's free information right there. Acts 14.23.
• 11:14
  It says, and when they had appointed elders for them in every church with prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed. Do you feel the deepness of this? It's not flippant. With prayer and fasting, they committed them to the Lord in every church. Right? That's a pretty big precedent. Look at Hebrews 13, 17. Hebrews 13, 17.
• 11:44
  Sometimes I think about marking the books in my Bible when I'm up here, so you don't have to see me try to find them. Okay, Hebrews 13, 17 says, Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls as those who will have to give an account. Again, not flippant, right? Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you.
• 12:16
  Isn't that interesting? You guys, can I just say, and it might seem kind of self-serving since my husband works here, but it's not meant to be that way. And I think you know me well enough, hopefully. And if you don't, I'm telling you. I think we're blessed. I think we're blessed to have the men that we do. And I don't just mean the elder board or the pastors. I mean overall. I think we're blessed to have people who struggle and strain and pray and fast and care. It's a big deal.
• 12:45
  I think we're blessed. Your elders and pastors are called to be willing, not greedy, and to be exemplary. And so, what are the sheep called to do? What are you and I called to do then? How does this part of Peter's exhortation apply to us? Can I give you some practical sheep talk right now? Practical one-on-one sheep time, right? I think we're supposed to pray. We need to pray for them.
• 13:14
  We need to pray for our church. We need to pray for protection. We need to pray for the men who are leading the church. We need to encourage them. We need to encourage them. We need to support them. And we need to trust them. Right? That doesn't mean sit down and shut up and never say anything. That is absolutely not what I'm saying. But I think the Bible is clear at what it says. Right? To trust, to encourage, and to pray. Right?
• 13:44
  So that's our practical sheep application for Peter's first exhortation. The second exhortation is to be humble. And you guys, I can't even tell you how many times this week I solved all the problems of the world by being humble myself. People to be humble. It's crazy. I know you think I'm joking, but it's really true. There were so many times that I was like, oh, and I was saying that to myself too. But it really is a huge part of 1 Peter. I hope you've seen that thread.
• 14:17
  Throughout 1 Peter. It's huge in this book. And he's going to hit it on the head right now. Verse 5. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another. For God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.
• 14:46
  Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you. We love that last part. That's really good stuff right there. But it takes us being humble at the beginning of this section, right? And you can tell here, Peter first picks on, starts talking about the younger. And we all have met boys from the age of 18 to 25 who think they know everything. So we understand, right? That there is some...
• 15:14
  Hard-headedness when it comes to being young, right? I'm kind of joking, but you get what I mean. I'm doing it again. But seriously, to those who are young in this room, including me because I'm very young, we don't know everything, right? Just because you're young, you don't know everything. And this younger generation, I've been saying this. I heard it. It's not because I'm so smart. They don't have to look anything up in books.
• 15:43
  They can Google everything. They really have access to all information all the time, which is nice, but also means they don't have to ask anybody for anything if they don't want to, right? So it kind of counterdicts this humility. My point is, just because you're young, obviously you don't know everything, and the Bible is telling you to submit yourself. Submit yourself. Go to a church that you trust, trust the men there, and then submit yourself to that.
• 16:11
  And if somebody says, hey, I think you're going down the wrong road, you should say, hey, I think I'm going down the wrong road, right? And to those of us who are older, I'm very old, even with all of our life experiences, right? Even with all of your life experiences, you still don't know everything, right? So we also need to be humble. Of course, you're a little older, you know more. You've been through more. But be humble in how you share that wisdom with other people, right? There's humility. We all need it.
• 16:39
  The young need to be humble. The older need to be humble when they think they're young or dumb, right? They have to do it in a humble way. And I think it's important as we get older to be willing to learn from people who are younger than us, to be at least reminded from people who are. My kids remind me of stuff all the time, and I'm like, oh, man, I wish you two weren't so smart, right?
• 17:03
  We need to be humble. I think back to Dina's verses in chapter 3. All of chapter 3 is about humility. It really is. It's about humbling yourself, submitting yourself. Like I said, it's a theme throughout 1 Peter. It's certainly a theme throughout the Bible, right? Peter quotes a proverb here when he says that God opposes the proud. God opposes the proud. And I told you this week.
• 17:30
  And lately, I feel like I see these relationships that are breaking for lack of humility. All different kinds of relationships, that it's this gaping hole in our society because people are not willing to be humble. And Peter is exhorting us to be humble. I read this quote, Humility is not an easy garment to wear, but it is the most becoming.
• 17:57
  And you know what? I told Joy this yesterday. No one wore it like Jesus did. Right? It is so hard to wear the garment of humility. But don't you love people who are humble? Aren't they the most attractive people? I think so. Let's look at Romans 12.10. Romans 12.10. And the title above this is Marks of a True Christian.
• 18:32
  You know, it's not the biblical, it's not inspired word, text, but it makes sense. Marks of a true Christian. Verse 10, Romans 12. Love one another with brotherly affection. Does that sound familiar to anybody? And then it says, outdo one another in showing honor. Outdo one another in showing honor. I know that it doesn't use the word humble here. It doesn't use the word humility. But we're supposed to outdo each other. You want to know how to be humble?
• 19:02
  Give somebody else the glory. Push somebody else to the front, right? Okay, look at verse 6. Back in verse Peter. Verse 6. Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you. You guys, don't worry about timing. Don't worry about being wronged. Don't worry about being right. Don't worry about being justified. God will take care of that. He doesn't even have to, again.
• 19:34
  True humility means you don't care about that. That's not up to you. Let God work that out. I have another quote. It's kind of wordy, but it's so good. So you can close your eyes if you need to. I won't think you're sleeping. If the foundational attitude for spiritual growth is submission, right? Submission, humility go hand in hand. Humility is the footing to which the foundation is anchored. I'm going to read that apart again.
• 20:01
  If the foundational attitude for spiritual growth is submission, humility is the footing to which the foundation is anchored. To become proudly rebellious, fight against the Lord's purposes, or judge his providence as unkind or unfair is to forfeit the sweet grace of his exaltation when the trial has fulfilled its purpose. Do you see how that fits right here? Right? We have trials. We have hardships. We want to be justified. We want to be right.
• 20:30
  But if we do that, we forfeit the blessing. If we wait until it's over, if we've been patient and humble, we get to the end, God will make it clear in his time. Maybe it's on the other side of heaven. I don't know. I have a couple of those, right? That's okay. It's his time, not mine. It is the Lord Jesus himself who promised, everyone who exalts himself will be humbled. And he who humbles himself will be exalted. Okay, look at verse 7. Casting all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.
• 21:00
  That part we like, you know. The chief shepherd, that he cares for you. And you are called in this verse to cast. We are called to cast. And you guys, I'm going to get all English major-y on you. Casting here is a participle that modifies back in verse 6. See, there's a reason for grammar, people. It's a participle that modifies humble yourselves. So you're casting all your cares, but that casting,
• 21:30
  Casting modifies humble yourself. So I'm going to take it a little deeper. So think about that. Casting modifies humble yourselves. In other words, worry or casting your cares. Cares in this verse is worries. Worries modifies your humility. To put it really plain and simple, if you are prone to worry, if you are a worrier, you are not being humble. Right? I think worry gets this little twisted, different.
• 22:00
  venue of sin. But if you're worrying, then you're not being humble. You're saying, oh God, because I don't know if you can handle that. So I'm going to pull that one over here and I'm going to worry about it. I'm going to pet it and I'm going to worry about it, right? That's the opposite of humility. Humility is God, your time. I trust you, right? Worry is a form of pride because it involves taking your concerns upon yourself instead of trusting them to God, which is humility.
• 22:32
  So we're going to go to Philippians 4. You knew I was going to because it is the verse about this. Philippians 4, and you probably can quote it. Philippians 4, 6, and 7. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And then what happens? The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your heart and your mind in Christ Jesus.
• 23:02
  Do you want peace? Then stop worrying. Be humble. Be humble. Stop worrying. Enter peace. Done with that one. Last one. Peter's last exhortation is to be vigilant. And this is probably the most famous part of this chapter, chapter 5. So I'm going to read verses 8 through 11. Be sober-minded.
• 23:31
  Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him. Firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, well, I think I was supposed to stop at nine. No. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you to him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
• 24:02
  Last exhortation is to be vigilant. It occurred to me that Peter did not have a zoo to go to. There were no zoos. I looked in Rome at this time. No zoos. And he didn't have the National Geographic channel. Couldn't watch lions. I mean, really, I had to think about this stuff. Where did he see his lions? In the gladiator rings. In the spectacles.
• 24:31
  That's where he had witnessed. There's no Googling. There's no any of that, right? Nobody sent him an image, right, of a roaring lion. He had seen a roaring lion probably in some spectacle or at the Colosseum somewhere in Rome, right? And when it was a guy or several guys and a lion, they were opponents, right? That roaring lion was his opponent, and someone was going to win. It was either man or beast, but someone died. So you can, again,
• 25:02
  Use that imagery when you think about what Peter is saying. And we talked about Nero and what was going on at this time. You know what kind of lion Peter is referring to. Satan wants to devour us. He does. He does. All the time. Every minute. He is fierce and calculated and relentless. And sometimes...
• 25:35
  Satan probably devours people individually. I don't think I'm important enough for that, right? I don't think he attacks me. I don't think he's sitting on my shoulder, right? I'm not saying that can't happen. We've definitely seen that in the Bible. But I want you to think about how he strategically tries to devour you. I think most of the time it is through alluring world systems or, for some people, through false doctrine.
• 26:06
  I've watched the Mormon commercials on TV, and I thought that sounds really the same. Sounds good, right? Sometimes Satan devours people because they've let their morals and their ethics and their beliefs be compromised and worn down over time. And so he a little bit wears them, however, through the world, through other people, through whatever he sends.
• 26:36
  however he uses it, wears you down, and then he can devour. Right? It's different for everybody. And what's crafty is that he knows. He knows. I'm not saying he's omniscient or any of those things, but he's powerful. He doesn't win. We already know that. But he is trying to devour us. And maybe we're believers. We are believers. Most of us, hopefully. And we think, you know, I'm protected from that. And that's true. There's some
• 27:09
  Theology in there, which I'm not going to talk about. But I want you to think about how maybe Satan, you know Satan can't directly get you. You're already on one side. You've already chosen. You're already secured. But how, how then does he use you to trip other people? I was thinking about those bitter roots we let crawl and infest us. People hurt our feelings.
• 27:38
  We're offended. And we let that root grow up in us. Right? And again, we're saved. We're going to heaven. But can Satan use that root that we have been allowed to not be plucked from our hearts and our minds? Surely. How about bad attitudes and angry words? Right? Again, I'm secure. I know I'm going to heaven. I know that I am not on Satan's team. But could my bad attitude or angry words, could he use that?
• 28:09
  for somebody else who's not secured, right? For people, I don't know, telemarketers and people at the gas station and drivers from California, right? Are you mad at them? Are you letting them know? Like really, those people might not be secure. Their salvation is not determined. And Satan might not have you, but he's willing to use you as a pawn to trip somebody else up. So what's your game plan? How are you going to survive?
• 28:40
  those attacks. And I just have a bunch of little one-liners that I wrote down. You have to be spiritually alert. You must be spiritually turned on and alert. And you guys, I think one way that we've seen in 1 Peter, maybe he didn't say it directly, but I have perceived one way in 1 Peter that he has shown us that we can be spiritually alert is to remember that this place is not our home.
• 29:09
  If you can remember that this is not your home, you will be spiritually alert. If that is at the forefront of your mind, eternity, kingdom, then you're not going to be easily devoured. Verse 9 says to stand firm in your faith. Stand firm in your faith. We all know what that means. You need to have deep roots. Deep roots that sink all the way down through God's word. And they have to keep going. They have to keep growing.
• 29:40
  Go in a million directions. It can't stop. Right? Deep roots. Think about all the verses in the Bible that talk about that, about being deeply rooted in God's word. It is one of the passions of my heart. Just this week, again, found out of somebody else, a young person who we used to be involved with that had walked away from their faith. You know, I was face-to-face with them for lots of times.
• 30:09
  Many times. I would never have assumed. But maybe their roots weren't deep enough. Right? I think about all the time the verse in Colossians that says that we are easily swept away by the thoughts and philosophies of men. Deep roots. You must have faithful obedience to biblical truth. You have to be faithfully obedient to what the Bible says. You have to be discerning.
• 30:40
  Did you know that it says you can pray for wisdom in James? Pray for wisdom and God will give it to you. Pray for discernment. Not one time five years ago, but all the time. You have to renew your mind every single day. That's Romans 12, 2. Renew your mind. Oh, here I am again. This morning I need to get up and take out this hard drive, right? And put in a new one. I need to renew my mind. It has to be new every day.
• 31:08
  Let's look at 2 Corinthians 10.5. I can read it for you if you don't want to turn there. 2 Corinthians 10.5. Sorry, I'm going. It says, We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ.
• 31:39
  Every thought. You have people in your life who have lofty opinions. Lofty opinions and they want to argue with you and push and push, right? How do you do that? You take every thought captive to obey Christ. You must not become indifferent. You can't become indifferent because you will not be able to see the roaring lion. He's disguised so well. Don't become indifferent about things.
• 32:14
  stock of what you believe? What does the Bible say? I'm not saying, how do you feel about it? But what does the Bible say about it? What does it say? Don't be indifferent about it. You must not become indulgent of sin, any type of sin, because the lion, again, is well disguised. Do you want to know how to not be devoured? Think about these verses just from chapter five that we've talked about tonight. And it can be summed up in these four words, submission,
• 32:43
  To the right things, obviously. I hope I don't have to say that. Submission, humility, trust, self-control. You do not want to be devoured by the lion. Submission, humility, trust, self-control. Submit yourselves, no matter your age, no matter your gender, or your status. Submit yourself to what God is calling you to do. Humility. God says he opposes people who are proud. So be humble. Trust God's timing. Stop.
• 33:12
  living a worried life. Stop having to cling to every little thing and make it happen the way you want it to. I think that the worried life is the paralyzed life. Self-control. Be vigilant. I think maybe even test yourself with some self-control. Just because you can do this or have this or go here or do that. Do you have self-control not to? Can you say no to yourself ever?
• 33:46
  The rest of verse 9 and through verse 11 give us hope. And verse 9. Resist and firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. That reminds me of last week. It reminds me that throughout the world, people are suffering often, mostly, way worse than us. And we need to be reminded that we are a brotherhood, a family, a church.
• 34:19
  Globally. But it's not like this. Remember I said last week, it's not like this, right? You need to pray for them. Think about them. Have knowledge about what's going on across the world. Verse 10 says, And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. Man, I thought, that's a pretty encouraging verse. So when you feel down,
• 34:51
  I don't know what you do. I have my boys dance and sing for me when I feel down. But I thought these verses, okay, I want restoration. God will do that for me. I want God to confirm. He will confirm for me. He will strengthen me and he will establish me. I don't have to do it myself and I don't have to worry about it now. And then you guys look at that. To him be the dominion forever and ever. It's his. All of it. His domain. And then Peter says a few goodbyes. Almost done.
• 35:23
  12 through 14. By Silvanus, that's Silas, a faithful brother as I regard him, I have written briefly to you, exhorting and declaring that this is the true grace of God. Be faithful like Silas. Help people, right? I love that he says this is the true grace of God. Peter's saying, these aren't just my words. It's God. God gave me these words. And 2,000 and something years later, we're still reading them.
• 35:53
  And they still 100% apply. Mind-boggling. Stand firm in it. Stand firm in it. That's what 1 Peter is all about. Standing firm. She who is at Babylon. That's Rome. Remember we talked about that the first week. There are a couple of commentators who don't think that. They think he was really at Babylon. But almost all of them say Babylon is the code word for Rome. It is imagery for Rome. But it's also maybe, maybe Peter.
• 36:26
  Peter was hiding in Rome. He dies not too long, and by dies, crucified. It's crucified not too long after this. So he probably was trying to protect the people in Rome, the believers in Rome. She who is at Babylon, who is likewise chosen, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, my son. That's Mark who wrote the Gospel of Mark. It's not his physical son, but his spiritual son. If ever you want to do a little study on Mark,
• 36:57
  It's interesting. He traveled for a little while with Paul. And Paul kind of got mad at him and said, you're out of here. But he's restored. It's interesting. Again, God uses people who mess up, right? Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. That's Peter. And I would challenge you, like I said at the beginning, I'm going to pursue second Peter.
• 37:24
  I'm going to take it to the next level, if you will. I'm going to find out why he had to write another letter. I wanted to read this little part that I shared the very first night, eight weeks ago, about Peter. And I hope that it's an encouragement to you. Peter was called and obeyed, leaving everything behind. He struggled with his faith but walked on water when he kept his eyes on the Lord. He was willing to go to battle for Jesus. He got caught up in sin.
• 37:55
  Ashamed of the gospel, he denied Christ in his darkest hour, but was restored by Jesus himself and used his life advancing the kingdom and becoming the rock on which Christ chose to build his church. What can we learn from this man, this apostle of hope? Peter is a reminder to all of us that God gets the glory. Peter is a reminder to us that God doesn't need us to be perfect. A reminder to us that God uses our failures as stepping stones in our faith.
• 38:23
  And that our failures do not need to be stumbling blocks to ourselves or to others. God restored Peter and used him in mighty ways. I want to read one last thing. And this is my favorite part, so I saved it for the end. Will you turn to John, chapter 21. Think back to just 30 minutes ago when I was talking about a shepherd. Right? And Peter wrote.
• 38:55
  about being shepherds. He's writing to shepherds, to elders. And if you go to John chapter 21, this is where Jesus has been crucified. He appears to some of the apostles, right? Comes through the wall. He's in the room with them. Then he's gone again for a little while. He appears to several other people, but not to the group at large. And then Peter decides to go back to his old gig.
• 39:25
  It's been a couple of weeks, I think. And he decides to go fishing. And I don't know that it's his first time fishing since all this happened. I don't know. But I like to think that it is. His first time back. He's like, I'm going to go fishing. And so think about Peter, what we know about him, what he said about being a shepherd, how personal those verses in chapter 5 must be to him. Okay? So I think I set the stage. If I could just...
• 39:54
  Find where I want to be. Verse 15. John chapter 21, verse 15. So here's our Peter. He's probably feeling a little awkward. They go fishing. Jesus tells him to cast the nets to catch fish. Is that here? I'm just making sure I got my story straight. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter. So they see Jesus, gives them breakfast. He's standing on the beach. And I don't know.
• 40:25
  I don't know if Peter feels bad still. I don't know. I think I would. I mean, I know I'm forgiven, but sometimes I hang on to it. That was kind of a big deal to Peter. When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these? What do you think Peter's thinking? Oh, no, not again. I'm going to do it right this time. He said to him, yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, feed my lambs. He said to him a second time, Simon, son of John, do you love me?
• 40:56
  He said to him, Yes, Lord, you know that I love you. He said to him, Tend my sheep. He said to him the third time, Simon, son of John, do you love me? Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, Do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you. And Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep. Isn't that interesting that Peter was called to be a fisher of men? And here he's asked to be a shepherd. And then when he goes to exhort the church,
• 41:27
  He's talking about being a shepherd. Can you imagine how personal those verses are to him? You be a good shepherd, right? I know what a good shepherd looks like. I've been with him, right? And that he would say that, it blew my mind when I connected all those dots. I'm just not that fast. I love the Bible. I love all of you. Thank you for coming, I'm going to pray. God, thank you for tonight. Thank you for your church. Lord, thank you, thank you for Peter.
• 41:58
  Lord, I pray that you would help us to be vigilant. You'd help us to be humble. That we would trust and obey. Thank you for your word, Lord. May it seep deep into our hearts and into our minds, Lord. I pray that you would protect your church, Lord. That you would use your people. In Jesus' name, amen.