Sermon
The Christian's Conduct During the Spiritual Journey
November 27, 2005
Pastor Donald Sheley

I'm going to ask you to take your Bibles; it's First Peter. And on this holiday weekend I'm sure there are folks with us who are new and so let me just give you a little bit of background as to our lesson. For a number of weeks we have been discussing and talking about this letter that was written by Peter. He wrote two; First and Second Peter.

We've learned some things about Peter. First of all, of course, he is always remembered for his denial of knowing the Christ, and it's very, very interesting in Christian literature there is very little that has been written about Peter. And when we read through the book of Acts, which is the record of the first 30 or 40 years of the Christian Church, we note that Peter's ministry is very predominant in the first half of the book, but then he fades from the scene and Paul becomes the prominent person of history there in the Book of Acts in the last portion.

There has been some speculation if I think probably some good historical evidence that Peter and Paul's ministry had a time of division. They separated from each other. And most likely that event took place as Paul records it in the book of Galatians. This is what happened: The Christian church had moved north up into Antioch, which is about 150 miles north of Jerusalem and it was really flourishing. And Gentiles were coming to know Christ, and Paul is there and Peter comes to visit in Antioch, and down in Jerusalem from where Peter had come there were these narrow-minded Christians who had it in mind that because Christianity came to the Jews in Jerusalem only Christianity was for Jews. And they resented Gentiles coming in for worship, and so as a result they felt they wanted to join Judaism and Christianity together and Paul said, no, you can't do that.

And so Paul is there in Antioch, Peter is there and for a while Peter is really enjoying himself. I mean, he's getting involved with worshiping and he's eating along with the Gentiles, and I mean he's having a happy time. And then some folks arrive from Jerusalem and they're these narrow-minded people who say Gentiles shouldn't be worshiping with us, and Peter immediately took sides with them and he leaves the Gentile part of the congregation and he acts like a Jewish Christian, following all of the rituals and the customs of the Jews, and that angered Paul. And Paul turned to Peter, and I'll put it on my words, and he said, you great big hypocrite. You acted like we...as a congregation as you shared with the Gentiles and the Christians and as soon as the critics come up from Jerusalem you bail out and you act like you're not part of us.

Well that was a confrontation that was public, right in front of the congregation, and that's not a good experience for anybody to go through. And historians suggest that what happened is that Peter and Paul went their different ways in ministry, because we find very little record of them coming back together.

In the year of A.D. 66, maybe 67, Paul is in Rome. The way he's in Rome is because he refused to be judged by the Hebrews and he required that Caesar make a judgment on his situation, the Jews were accusing him of, and as a result, Paul said let Caesar make the decision. I'll go off to Rome. So he's in Rome, but he's in prison. Now it's suggested that Peter now realizes Paul's in Rome; it's time to get together, so Peter takes off for Rome. and I can only read this in because I don't find this in history books, but most likely it was the desire to bring this thing back together. They are older men now. They are in their 60's.

And when Peter arrives Paul is dead. Nero had sent his soldiers and cut off his head and Peter didn't have a chance to meet Paul. So he's in a strange city, his friend is gone, but something else is happening. What had happened is Nero the Caesar loved building. He wanted to get involved in a building program, and so what he did, he didn't have clear land so he just decided to burn down part of the city. It was old shacks made out of wood, and so we arranged to have the city of Rome lit a fire. It burned for 3 1/2 days. When people tried to put out the fire, he'd have it lit in other places, so it burned for days and finally when the fire is out the remaining residents of Rome are angry because they know Nero had set the fire.

So in order to find a scapegoat Nero accuses the Christians of doing it. Now there was quite a lot of slander going on against the Christians already, but one of the items of slander was this: if you listen to them preach, they'll tell you that the world is going to end with fire. In fact, in Second Peter 3:10 he says this world will melt with fervent heat. And so in that they talked about the end of the world coming as the result of a fire, who would be most likely to have set the fire than those Christians? And so they became the object of persecution and accusation and slander, and so now Peter finds himself in a city where Christians are giving their lives. They are under deep persecution and trial.

In fact Nero is absolutely crazy. He sadistic. Take your notes and on page 2 look at what he does - down about 10 lines in your notes. Nero rolled the Christians in pitch. He would wrap them in burlap or some kind of a cloth and then he would dip them into pitch, and then stand those Christians wrapped and with pitch, light them afire, and they became the torches for his night garden. Can you imagine that?

Not only that - he sewed them up in the skins of wild animals and set his hunting-dogs on them to tear them limb from limb while they were still alive. Nero has declared persecution, and I mean that Christians were under tremendous trials so they started fleeing the city.

Look at Peter 1:1. Look at where they started running to. To the pilgrims of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. Now those were ancient names for what we would today call modern Turkey. So they left Rome, went east, fleeing for their lives because Nero has begun the persecution of Christians. Now Peter sees this and Peter writes his letter as a letter of encouragement to these Christians who are suffering tremendously.

Now the reason why I lay that down each time we come to this story is because if we understand the setting, we understand then the motive for the writing so that everything that we find in this letter was written to encourage those discouraged and persecuted Christians. So we begin today in chapter 2 at verse 11. Would you go there with me? In our lessons we're just kind of taking it word for word and sometimes phrase for phrase, but I am finding his writings are absolutely rich with tremendous eternal truth.

Verse 11 says: "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation."

So let's begin with the first word - beloved. It's an old word and I've suggested in your notes that it often was the word that was used by a pastor in addressing his congregation - beloved. And sometimes we address each other...I say brother Harold or sister Kiké. Brother and sister is quite common within our Christian fellowship to address each other as brothers and sisters in Christ. And oft times an older pastor, and I say older because he has to be older than I am, because I would be uncomfortable calling you beloved. I can call you brothers and sisters but when I get a little older and I start calling you beloved then you know I'm aging, but it's a word that wraps a different feeling - beloved.

But, after writing the notes and thinking about that word, I decided I'm going to go to some of the word dictionaries to find out if there's a deeper meaning here, and you go to Wiest's writings on word meanings, this is what he says: most likely what is implied here is the love, they are being reminded of the love that God has for them. You're beloved of God. And amidst all of your trials and your tribulations don't forget in the darkest of night God loves you beloved! Don't forget that.

It's often when life begins to fold in on us and the trials are immense and we don't feel that love, and I've gone through moments, and I'm sure you have to, when I call and say God where are you? You told me that you loved me, but if you really loved me why are you letting this thing go on? It's hard at times when life is rough and the trials are steep and God seems 1,000,000 miles away. Remember, that he loves us.

That love is defined by Paul in Romans chapter 5, if you'd like to go there with me? Here is the way Paul talks about this love that I think Peter is reminding the persecuted Christians about: For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for us. I'm at verse 6. Died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet per adventure for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

God loved us when we were so unlovable and in the person of Jesus Christ He went to that cross to die for us. And so Peter is saying, beloved, God loves you. And even though you are running and you are being chased don't forget you are the object of His love.

You know when you've lived a long time and been a Christian for a long time, there are seasons you go through that that love seems so far away. You just walk by faith, and then you look back over the experiences of life and you can see that in those dark moments God was really there all the time, and in His own way loving us and carrying us at times.

So Peter in his letter says, beloved, you're the object of God's love - don't forget it. Now he goes on to say pilgrims and strangers...go to your notes and down on page 3 here's what was in Peter's mind when he talked about strangers. The word "stranger" means someone who dwells along or is exiled, but his home is elsewhere. It is the picture of a foreigner who is in a country for a while, maybe long enough to rent or lease a home, but he is not a permanent resident. He has no legal rights or status. He is a stranger, an exile who dwells in a strange land. Thus, the believer is a stranger, a foreigner, an exile on earth. He is a resident, but he is not a citizen of this earth.

Paul tells us what we are as citizens, he says, "For our conversation [citizenship] is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body, according to the working whereby He is able even to subdue all things unto Himself." Peter said our citizenship is in heaven. We're just travelers down here folks. Sometimes the journey will be three score and 10 years and maybe a little longer, for others it's less, but all the time we're just travelers and our home is heaven. And thus the believer is to live his life as a stranger on earth, as one whose heart and mind are on a far greater home and world.

Years ago we used to sing an old hymn: This world is not my home, I'm just a-passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. They're all expecting me on heaven's golden shores, and I don't feel at home in this world any more. The meaning of the song is the hope is there and it's bright and it's clear and our goal is to reach that eternal home, heaven, and thus, earth doesn't have too much pull. It's sad enough we allow this world to lock us in with its values and the things of time to the point where we lose heaven's focus.

You know I told the rest of the congregations, I don't know if I'm getting old, but the older I get the less I feel at home here. Have you experienced that? You know I have the joy of getting up at four o'clock in the morning and coming for prayer here at the church, and I'm here - I live here - 16 hours a day and go home at 9-10 o'clock at night. This is home. And I just love being here. We've got hundreds of children and hundreds of people coming and going all day. It's like a little city so I don't need to go out to find the city; I've got one.

And so I don't shop, I buy; I mean I make my mind up what I need. If I need a loaf of bread I go get a loaf of bread and I leave the store I don't shop, so I'm not out there very much. So the other day my wife said, honey, Tanforan is open. She said let's go see what it's like. I said, okay, I'll take a little ride with you. So we go down to Tanforan and I start walking down that mall and I said to Vernita, which planet did these people come from? I started seeing all of those clothes and oddities and I thought, dear Lord where have I been for 30 years? And then there was old Victoria yelling out her secrets from her window, and I said to my wife, honey, it's time for us to go back to the church.

I'm honest. I was uncomfortable there. There's something about when heaven becomes real and you get closer, this world doesn't have much attraction. And many times I'm asked, how are you doing pastor? And I say, wonderful, I'm one day closer to heaven than I was yesterday, and I mean it with all my heart.

You see what Peter is doing, he is saying beloved, don't ever forget no matter how dark the night may be, and no matter how difficult the trials, God loves you beloved. And don't forget you're just a traveler, citizenship is held in heaven not down here. And one of these days the trumpet will call, and we'll go home, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.

Now let's follow the text a little closer. You'll notice that Peter says, "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation." So he is saying, look at, you are loved by God, it's just a short stay here, but don't forget you're on display. People are watching. That unbelieving world is observing how you respond to the situations of life, and it might just be that through your testimony they will come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

You'll notice that phrase "in the day of visitation." Some theologians suggest that that has reference maybe to the second coming of Christ. But other theologians suggest, no, what it is saying, what Peter is saying is, listen, that day of visitation references that moment in the life of the unbeliever when God visits them with His grace and His mercy and His love and His divine revelation of salvation, in that day when He visits the heart of the unbeliever, that will be the day because that unbeliever has made observation of the way Christians have lived; they too will want to become a Christian, because while you were on display you showed Christ in your living.

So he is saying, Christians, I know it's difficult, but just remember your life is on an exhibition and people are watching. So live your life that they will be so marked, their minds will be so marked with the marvel of your life that when they understand the ways of salvation has revealed to them by the visitation of the Spirit of God, they'll glorify God because of you.

Now in order to do that, I left out a phrase, and you'll notice: "Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul." In other words, if I'm going to fulfill this assignment that I have to display God's love and His power amidst all of my problems, I must have a set determination that I'm going to stay away from sin.

Now we have in our church a wonderful man who teaches down at Stanford biblical languages, and I said to Ting the other day, Ting, in the Greek can you tell me the meaning...is there...tell me what abstain really says in the Greek language. Because I think of abstain as just avoiding, walking away from, ignoring. Oh no, he said, pastor. He said what it means is to run from, to shun, to flee, to hasten away!

And what Peter is saying is abstaining from evil or abstaining from sin is an action that we take as a determined will. So help me God I'm not going to do that because it's wrong. That's what the thought of abstaining is. It's running from, fleeing, shunning anything that even has the appearance of evil. You walk away from it so that your life is not marred by it.

That word abstain has really been working through my mind all week. Ting told me that it meant to run from, to flee, to shun, and then comes along Thanksgiving dinner. And every time I looked at that pumpkin pie, the word abstain, I mean after the third one I couldn't go back. The idea is that it takes personal effort, determination. So help me God I'm not going to allow that sin into my life.

Now there's an interesting verse found and Matthew chapter 11 verses 11 and 12, and in it's the occasion when the disciples of John the Baptist come to Jesus and Jesus finally says that there's been no greater prophet than John the Baptist. But He says the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence since the days of John the Baptist until now, but the violent taketh it by force.

Now Luke says in a little different way, but I think here's the meaning, what Jesus was saying is the kingdom of God, of course, is the reign of Christ, the rule of Christ in our heart. His kingdom is here. His rule is here, and when His kingdom is here when we strive for righteousness there's always going to be a battle. Paul talks about it in Romans chapter 7; the thing I want to do, I can't do, and the thing I don't want to do, I do. And so what Jesus is saying is the kingdom of God is always under attack, and you and I know that.

You go out in our world and try to live a Christian life and live by Christian standards, and the world looks on you and says where have you been? Because the Christian has different value systems and a different standard that we live by. The kingdom is under attack, always, but then he says it's the violent man that takes it by force. Implying that if you're going to live this Christian life to the glory of God there has got to be determination so strong that you say, Lord whatever it takes I'm going to live for You! I'm not going to be sidetracked on my goal.

Violent determination, one writer says it's violent devotion. I like that. A man so in love with God, so in love with Christ that there's a determination that whatever it takes I'm going to live for Jesus. The violent taketh it by force, and I think there is that thought within that verse, abstain, sometimes you go against all the trends in order to set the pace for righteousness. It's living your Christianity dramatically for Christ.

Some time ago we had one in our congregation, a new man in his faith, but oh how he's growing, and he had had an accident in the morning, realized his insurance had gone out weeks before, hurries down to the insurance office, renews his insurance, so when the other insurance company calls and said do you have insurance? He said yes, knowing that that's not the truth because he didn't have insurance when he had the accident and he had insurance in the afternoon the insurance would show on the same day.

This thing really began to bother him. Here he's told a lie. So he couldn't sleep with the thing so the next morning he picks up the phone and he phones the lady at the insurance company and says I lied to you. He gave his name and said look at I'm a Christian and I want you to know ma'am I didn't have insurance when that accident happened. I got it in the afternoon. I would lie before, but I don't do that now. I'm a Christian, and he went on to share his witness with that lady. She was absolutely dumbfounded. She said, I have never gotten a telephone call like this. And he said, you just keep your check, I don't want it, I can't take it. And other conversations pursued but that lady was absolutely dumbfounded. I think she almost swallowed the telephone when she got that call.

That's what I call dramatic conviction and determination, that under any condition, whatever it is, I'm not going to involve myself with anything that looks like sin.

Now, let's go back to our scripture text. Peter says, never forget it, you're being chased, you're under persecution and the nights will be long and the tears will be hot, and the pain may be severe, but in the silence of that moment listen for His voice because He'll call you 'beloved.' And because He loves you remember that the journey in short and you're just a traveler. You're on your way to heaven, and you've got witnesses that are observing your life. So live your life that when the Spirit of God visits them with truth and revelation, they'll come to know Christ because your life has influenced them. And in order to do that, stay away, flee, shun, run from, abstain from anything that is marked with sin and strive for righteousness.

How many of us really have that commitment so strongly, a determination so intense that the world around us knows that our only love is the love of God Almighty and a love for Jesus Christ and a desire to serve Him?

We have in our church a little lady who a few months ago walked into our office and she said, pastor, I want to convert to Christianity. I'm a Muslim. When I grew up in my native country there was a little Christian church down the street and against my parents wishes, and many times disciplined for it, I snuck away and went down to that little Christian Church. And she said I heard about a God that loves, and the god that I knew in my religion didn't love, and I heard about a God who loves and I decided that if I ever have an opportunity I'm going to put my faith in the God of Christianity. She said now I'm in America, and she said I want to convert to Christianity. What do I have to do? We had the joy of leading her to Christ, a wonderful, wonderful commitment. A few weeks later we baptized her, and we dedicated her three children.

I knew-I knew that once that happened we were going to start a chain reaction back home. Sure enough, when the parents back home learned that their daughter had converted to Christianity they let it be known to her, if you ever come home when you land at the airport we'll shoot you before you leave the airport. That's the family. And then she, of course, received a monthly stipend from an estate that had been willed to her and when they couldn't get her to convert back to her original faith, they cut off all of her finances.

We as a church have stepped in to show love. We're a part of this journey. She didn't have a car and so because of your graciousness and your giving we had an extra car, and we gave her a car so she could get out and find a job. The other day the motor in the car after 190,000 miles went out, so we rushed the car down to the shop and put a new motor in it for her so now she can get to whatever job she can go to. And I talk with her frequently, and I put my arm around her the other day and said, how's it going? With great big beautiful eyes she said, pastor, it's rough, but she said I'll never, I'll never give up Jesus-never. And I thought to myself, what a determination, what a commitment, whatever cost she's going to live for Christ. And one of these days I have a feeling that some of those family members are going to come to a saving knowledge of Christ.

This is Peter's point. Peter said we may be going through trials, but you'll notice when you pick up the pages of church history there is an interesting...go with me to the last paragraph of page 8, and I'm almost done. Peter understood this: The striking fact of history is that by their lives, those early persecuted Christians actually did defeat the slanders of the heathen. In the early part of the third century Celsus made the most famous and the most systematic attack of all upon the Christians in which he accused them of ignorance and foolishness and superstition and all kinds of things--but never, never of immorality.

In the first half of the fourth century, Eusebius, the great Church historian, could write: "But the splendour of the holy and truly Christian Church, which is always the same, grew in magnitude and power, and reflected its piety and simplicity and freedom, and the modesty and purity of its inspired life and philosophy to every nation both of Greeks and barbarians."

The historians tell us their testimony finally won out. And in 311-12-14, somewhere around there, the Roman Empire said let's make Christianity the number one religion of the empire.

Let your light so shine before men.