Podcasts about i peter

I. The Righteous Reminders (1/2)   - This comes right after men CALLED ON THE NAME OF THE LORD!II. The Scriptural Significances (3/32) It is a…  1.  Historic timeline   2.  Holy line - connecting to the Future Seed; Genesis 4 & 5; I Chronicles 1:1-27; Matthew 1:1-17; Luke 3:23-38.  3.  Harsh line (the reign of death) - “and he died”; Romans 3:23; 6:23; Genesis 2:15-17; Hebrews 9:22; John 11:25-26; I Cor 15:20-28, 50-58  4.  Hopeful line (the way of life; 18/24) - Enoch “walked” with God; Enoch “pleased” God (Hebrews 11) - physical death doesn't mean there can't be spiritual life!  5.  Help line (28/32) - Noah 120 years (Rescue) - references to Noah (52x in OT (36 in Genesis alone; 8x in NT); ISAIAH 54 (v. 10); EZEKIEL 14:12-23MATTHEW 24:37-38 (Luke 17:26-27); Luke 3:36; Hebrews 11:7; I Peter 3:20; II Peter 2:25

Dr. David Brown, Pastor Emeritus of the First Baptist Church in Oak Creek, has a Masters in Theology and a Ph.D in History, specializing in the history of the English Bible. In addition to his study of the English Bible, he's also president of Logos Communications Consortium. For years he has conducted research on witchcraft, the occult, fantasy role playing games and The Dark Side of Halloween. Note this from I Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Satan is subtle. Scripture refers to him as the "god of this world", as "the prince of the power of the air" as "the father of lies" as a "destroyer", as one who is "the deceiver of the whole world," and yet as one who transforms himself "as an angel of light." With this in mind, this edition of Crosstalk comes as a warning concerning a new series coming out first on Freeform then on Disney+, Hulu, and Freeform On Demand. It's called Coven Academy which reportedly "follows three teenage witches and their dangerously charming warlock peers an at elite magic school where power is currency, secrets are lethal, and attraction is a liability." So become informed and hear the background of the characters behind Coven Academy, excerpts from the trailer, why the concepts of good witches/bad witches and white magic/black magic are false, and finally how Scripture clearly shows that this program is promoting the occult. More Information: Offer: Principles for Determining What is Acceptable is available for a donation of $2.00. Send your donation to: First Baptist Church, P.O Box 151, Oak Creek, WI 53154.

Dr. David Brown, Pastor Emeritus of the First Baptist Church in Oak Creek, has a Masters in Theology and a Ph.D in History, specializing in the history of the English Bible. In addition to his study of the English Bible, he's also president of Logos Communications Consortium. For years he has conducted research on witchcraft, the occult, fantasy role playing games and The Dark Side of Halloween. Note this from I Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Satan is subtle. Scripture refers to him as the "god of this world", as "the prince of the power of the air" as "the father of lies" as a "destroyer", as one who is "the deceiver of the whole world," and yet as one who transforms himself "as an angel of light." With this in mind, this edition of Crosstalk comes as a warning concerning a new series coming out first on Freeform then on Disney+, Hulu, and Freeform On Demand. It's called Coven Academy which reportedly "follows three teenage witches and their dangerously charming warlock peers an at elite magic school where power is currency, secrets are lethal, and attraction is a liability." So become informed and hear the background of the characters behind Coven Academy, excerpts from the trailer, why the concepts of good witches/bad witches and white magic/black magic are false, and finally how Scripture clearly shows that this program is promoting the occult. More Information: Offer: Principles for Determining What is Acceptable is available for a donation of $2.00. Send your donation to: First Baptist Church, P.O Box 151, Oak Creek, WI 53154.

Dr. David Brown, Pastor Emeritus of the First Baptist Church in Oak Creek, has a Masters in Theology and a Ph.D in History, specializing in the history of the English Bible. In addition to his study of the English Bible, he's also president of Logos Communications Consortium. For years he has conducted research on witchcraft, the occult, fantasy role playing games and The Dark Side of Halloween. Note this from I Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Satan is subtle. Scripture refers to him as the "god of this world", as "the prince of the power of the air" as "the father of lies" as a "destroyer", as one who is "the deceiver of the whole world," and yet as one who transforms himself "as an angel of light." With this in mind, this edition of Crosstalk comes as a warning concerning a new series coming out first on Freeform then on Disney+, Hulu, and Freeform On Demand. It's called Coven Academy which reportedly "follows three teenage witches and their dangerously charming warlock peers an at elite magic school where power is currency, secrets are lethal, and attraction is a liability." So become informed and hear the background of the characters behind Coven Academy, excerpts from the trailer, why the concepts of good witches/bad witches and white magic/black magic are false, and finally how Scripture clearly shows that this program is promoting the occult. More Information: Offer: Principles for Determining What is Acceptable is available for a donation of $2.00. Send your donation to: First Baptist Church, P.O Box 151, Oak Creek, WI 53154.

Dr. David Brown, Pastor Emeritus of the First Baptist Church in Oak Creek, has a Masters in Theology and a Ph.D in History, specializing in the history of the English Bible. In addition to his study of the English Bible, he's also president of Logos Communications Consortium. For years he has conducted research on witchcraft, the occult, fantasy role playing games and The Dark Side of Halloween. Note this from I Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Satan is subtle. Scripture refers to him as the "god of this world", as "the prince of the power of the air" as "the father of lies" as a "destroyer", as one who is "the deceiver of the whole world," and yet as one who transforms himself "as an angel of light." With this in mind, this edition of Crosstalk comes as a warning concerning a new series coming out first on Freeform then on Disney+, Hulu, and Freeform On Demand. It's called Coven Academy which reportedly "follows three teenage witches and their dangerously charming warlock peers an at elite magic school where power is currency, secrets are lethal, and attraction is a liability." So become informed and hear the background of the characters behind Coven Academy, excerpts from the trailer, why the concepts of good witches/bad witches and white magic/black magic are false, and finally how Scripture clearly shows that this program is promoting the occult. More Information: Offer: Principles for Determining What is Acceptable is available for a donation of $2.00. Send your donation to: First Baptist Church, P.O Box 151, Oak Creek, WI 53154.

Dr. David Brown, Pastor Emeritus of the First Baptist Church in Oak Creek, has a Masters in Theology and a Ph.D in History, specializing in the history of the English Bible. In addition to his study of the English Bible, he's also president of Logos Communications Consortium. For years he has conducted research on witchcraft, the occult, fantasy role playing games and The Dark Side of Halloween. Note this from I Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Satan is subtle. Scripture refers to him as the "god of this world", as "the prince of the power of the air" as "the father of lies" as a "destroyer", as one who is "the deceiver of the whole world," and yet as one who transforms himself "as an angel of light." With this in mind, this edition of Crosstalk comes as a warning concerning a new series coming out first on Freeform then on Disney+, Hulu, and Freeform On Demand. It's called Coven Academy which reportedly "follows three teenage witches and their dangerously charming warlock peers an at elite magic school where power is currency, secrets are lethal, and attraction is a liability." So become informed and hear the background of the characters behind Coven Academy, excerpts from the trailer, why the concepts of good witches/bad witches and white magic/black magic are false, and finally how Scripture clearly shows that this program is promoting the occult. More Information: Offer: Principles for Determining What is Acceptable is available for a donation of $2.00. Send your donation to: First Baptist Church, P.O Box 151, Oak Creek, WI 53154.

III. The Faith moving forward -   •  The First Statement of Faith -   •  The Kingdom of man vs.  •  The Kingdom of God (25/26)  1.  Adam & Eve had a third son   2.  Seth had a son (Enosh) -   3.  At this time people began to call on the name of of the Lord    •  The Name of the Lord - All we do we do for His Name / for His glory / for His honor      •  Highlight those who called on the name of the Lord:    •  Lowlight first - Gen. 11:4    •  Abram/Abraham - Gen. 12:8; 21:33    •  Moses - Deut. 4:7; 28:10    •  David - II Samuel 6:2    •  Elijah - I Kings 18:23-26    •  Solomon - II Chronicles 7:14    •  Daniel - 9:16-19     •  Joel 2:32 (Acts 2:21; Ro 10:13)  •  You must CALL ON HIS NAME to be saved: Luke 24:44-47; John 3:16-18; 20:31; Acts 2:16-21; 4:7-12; Romans 10:9-13; I Cor. 6:9-11; I John 5:13-14  •  You must CALL ON HIS NAME in baptism: Mt. 28:18-19; Acts 19:4-5  •  CALL ON HIS NAME in praise: Luke 19:36-40; Heb 13:15  •  CALL ON HIS NAME in prayer: Mt. 6:9; John 15:16  •  CALL ON HIS NAME to be a missionary: III John 7  •  CARE ABOUT HIS NAME to fight off division in His Church - I Cor. 1:10-13  •  CALL ON HIS NAME even when persecuted: Acts 5:41; 21:13; I Peter 4:14  •  CARE ABOUT HIS NAME in all that you do: Col. 3:17  •  You can't CALL ON HIS NAME when living in sin: II Tim. 2:19  •  All will one day CALL ON HIS NAME - Phil. 2:9-11

Introduction James 3:6-12 Take their little problems seriously … I Thessalonians 5:17; Romans 12:12 I Peter 5:6-7 - God wants us to come to…

- Chapter 3 started the snowball rolling downhill / Started the dominoes knocking down God's original design and purpose one after another.• Secular means “worldly”; “earthly” rather than sacred and spiritual • In Worship - Cain then Babel then Nicodemus - Jesus converts the religious into the righteous (many need the clarity of the Scriptures) • In Marriage - monogamy was the foundation of God's plan - the opponents of God say monogamy is a late reality. It was the first and the foundational • The Technological, Agricultural, & In Musical - advancing yes but it's not progressing when you leave God out of the equation • Psalm 73:1-17 (prospering)• General Douglas MacArthur wanted to send missionaries and Bibles to Japan asap - something would fill that void.  • Here we see 2 Kingdoms being established & developed - The Righteous vs The Religious: • Hypocrisy, Apostasy, Worship • True, False, & Vain WorshipI. The Faith of the firstborn II. The Folly of vain worship • Cain's Offering - I Jn 3:10-12• Balaam's Bribe (Numbers 22)• Korah's Rebellion (Numbers 16); Dathan & Abiram) • Judas I. The Kingdom of man - The Cainites1. He started a family (17) - 2. He built a city (18) - Enoch3. His family multiplied (19)4. Lamech violated God's marriage law (2:24) 5. Lamech's wives (20-24)• Adah - Jabal (father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock - herding and breeding); Jubal (father of all those who play the lyre & pipe - string and wind instruments.• Zillah - Tubal-Cain (forger of all instruments of bronze and iron (metallurgy); His sister was Naamah II. The Kingdom of God (25/26)1. Adam & Eve had a third son (Seth) - God gave after Cain took! Luke 3:382. Seth had a son (Enosh) - 3. At this time people began to call on the name of the Lord.• God's people built cities  • God's people invented things• God's people help advance civilizations • God's people did it for God - In Philippians 3:17-21 Paul says “our citizenship is in Heaven”; in 1 Peter 1:1 Peter calls God's people exiles/aliens 4. The Name of the Lord - All we do we do for His Name / for His glory / for His honor 5. Not many people mentioned. Not much information given. It won't be long before the number of those who truly call on the Lord is fewer than 10. Only 8 got in the Ark. Only Enoch & Noah called men of God till chapter 12!6. Not long after the flood will be the massive project to build the Tower of Babel - “to get to heaven without the help of God”. We continually see 2 kingdoms clashing - 2 kingdoms in conflict. Today!• You must CALL ON HIS NAME to be saved: Luke 24:44-47; John 3:16-18; 20:31; Acts 2:21; 2:38; 4:7-12; 8:12; Romans 10:9-13; I Cor. 6:9-11; I John 5:13• You must CALL ON HIS NAME in baptism: Matthew 28:18-19; Acts 19:4-5• You must CALL ON HIS NAME in praise: Lk 19:38; Heb 13:15• You must CALL ON HIS NAME in prayer: Mt. 6:9; John 15:16• You must CALL ON HIS NAME to be a missionary: III John 7• You must CARE ABOUT HIS NAME to fight off division in His Church - I Cor. 1:10• You must CALL ON HIS NAME even when persecuted: Acts 5:41; 21:13; I Peter 4:14• You must CARE ABOUT HIS NAME in all that you do: Col. 3:17• You can't CALL ON HIS NAME when living in sin: II Tim. 2:19• All will CALL ON HIS NAME one day: Phil. 2:9-11• The NAME OF GOD and the judgment of mankind: II Thess. 1:5-12

Subject: I PeterSpeaker or Performer: Randy McLendonScripture Passage(s): I Peter 5:12Date of Delivery: September 13, 2026

21:17 How often is the lamp of the wicked put out,- Bildad affirmed that the lamp of the wicked is put out in 18:5. The book of Proverbs stresses this as well (Prov. 13:9; 20:20; 24:20). The text of Proverbs 24:19-20 says, “Do not fret because of evil people or be envious of wicked people, for the evil person has no future, and the lamp of the wicked will be extinguished.” (NET) The emphasis on the fall of the wicked by Bildad fits with Proverbs.  Job does not deny this ever happens, but he does question how often it happens. The occurrence of the lamp of the wicked being put out happens too infrequently to be said to be an established pattern. Or does their calamity fall on them? The word calamity, 'ed is used in vs. 30 and it was used by Bildad in 18:12 to say that calamity is ready for the wicked. In Proverbs 1:27; 6:15; and 24:22 this word describes the consequences of sin upon the wicked. But, Job asks, how often does calamity fall on the wicked for their sin?Does God apportion destruction in His anger? The verb apportion, chalaq, can mean divide, distribute, allot. The noun form of this word was used by Zophar in 20:29 to speak of the wicked man's portion from God. The word anger, aph, was used in 20:23, 28 by Zophar to speak of God's judgments on the wicked. Job is using Zophar's words, but Job is questioning how frequently they come true. Job's says the friends' argument cannot be maintained when looking at the real world. 21:18 Are they as straw before the wind,- Straw speaks of what is weak in Job 41:27 and what is worthless in Jeremiah 23:28.And like chaff which the storm carries away? Psalm 1:4; 35:5; Isa. 17:13; 29:5; Jer. 13:24; Hos. 13:3 use this image of chaff. Chaff is the remains left behind of the straw after threshing. These verses tell us the wicked are like the chaff that the wind blows away. Psalm 1 contrasts the righteous as a well-rooted tree to the wicked who are as insubstantial and rootless as chaff. Job questions this portrayal. Is Job questioning these God inspired pictures? Job is questioning whether we always see the outworking of these principles in this life. Job as a righteous man felt like he was a driven leaf and dry chaff in 13:25. Many people who live wicked lives are thriving. Even this very picture calls to mind the end of Job's children from 1:18-19 who were killed by a great wind.21:19-20 Job predicts the friends' will answer his argument about times God has not repaid evil with answers like He will repay their children. Job says that is not fair. It is not fair that the father sins and the children pay the price. Jesus' suffering is spoken of as drinking God's cup in Matt. 26:39; Mark 14:36. Jesus did not suffer this penalty because of any sin or wrongdoing of His own (I Peter 2:22; I John 3:5, 8). It is striking how many characters around the cross affirm the innocence of Jesus: Pilate (Luke 23:4, 14, 22; John 18:38; 19:4, 6), Herod (Luke 23:14), Pilate's wife (Matt. 27:19), Judas (Matt. 27:4), the thief (Luke 23:40-41), the centurion (Luke 23:47). Jesus was not on the cross for what He did but for what He did. It is not fair that we sinned, and Jesus paid the price. It is not fair, but it is amazing grace.  21:32 Others keep watch over the rich man's tomb to honor. Watch was kept over Jesus' tomb to make sure the disciples did not steal the body (Matt. 27:62-66). That watch failed. “Death cannot keep its prey, Jesus my Savior, He tore the bars away, Jesus my Lord.”

“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,”I Peter 5:6 NKJVwhen you think of humility, what comes to your mind?

Steve DeWitt Spiritual Exiles - Part B Study Guide for Spiritual Exiles, I Peter 1:1-2 Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 1:1-2 Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter Donate to Support The Journey Sermon Transcript for Spiritual Exiles, I Peter 1:1-2 Message: Spiritual ExilesAirdate: 9/4 & 9/7/26, Programs 2350 & 2351Studying through books of the Bible has been, has really been the bread and butter of our church over the years. And, today, we begin a new series as you've seen on the screen in the, the book or the letter of First Peter. And you might ask, well, why First Peter? I mean, because from one perspective, we really could open the Bible anywhere and have things that would be profitable to us. That's what, Scripture says about itself, that all Scripture is God breathed, that is profitable. So we really could go. We could go to Leviticus. We could go to Psalms. We could go to Revelation, and there would be a quality word that God would have for us. But why First Peter? Well, I've chosen First Peter because it is so wonderfully relevant to, life as we are living it increasingly here in our culture and our society where we find ourselves as Christians and particularly as evangelical Christians increasingly on the margins of society. More and more it seems that to actually believe in Jesus is a, you know, small s scandalous sort of thing. And by that, I mean, not nominal Christianity. Nominal Christianity will fit in anywhere. Nominal Christians are accepted. But if you actually believe it, like you're one of those crazy people that actually believe the gospel, and you really believe in, the resurrection, and you really believe in that the world was created and things like that, more and more, people are looking down their nose at that and pushing us to the fringe of the culture. And First Peter is written for the church in exile. First Peter is written for a church on the margins. It is written for the persecuted church. It's written, for the ostracized church. It is written for the hated church. I read somebody that basically said, the more irrelevant Christianity becomes, the more relevant First Peter becomes because it's written for that church that is in exile in its culture. The title of the series comes from the first words in, Peter's letter where he addresses it and says, to those who are elect exiles. Exiles where and exiles why we're going to, get into. And I dare say that by the time we're done with this series, I'll bet First Peter might be in the running for your favorite book in all the Bible. Luther himself said about First Peter that it is, quote, “one of the noblest books in the New Testament,” and he put it on par with Romans and the Gospel of John, which is saying something, isn't it? So, it's a wonderful letter, and I think it's gonna be a real blessing to all of us. We're going to work through it in a style of teaching, known as expository preaching. And what that means is that week in and week out, we're going to look at the text as Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote it. We're gonna ask the question, what did Peter and the Holy Spirit mean when they wrote that particular text? And then we are going to draw out of that meaning as it was originally intended and apply it to our lives today. What does that mean for us today? I wanna encourage you to come each week, every week with expository preaching is a fresh text, which means that it is a fresh word from God for us. And I think that it will be, it will be a blessing. So with that, let me just pray and ask God's blessing on this entire teaching series. Father, we ask that you would please, as you have done down through the centuries, that you would take your holy word, that you would enlighten it to our understanding, and that you would powerfully apply it to our lives and to our church and through us to the culture around us. We pray that this series would be just uniquely blessed by you, and all the good that can be done from it has little to do with, me or any of our teachers and pastors, but it depends on your Holy Spirit's blessing, and we seek that and we ask for it. Bless even now in in in in this day as we begin in in our study. We pray that this would be a great launch, and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Now as we always do when we begin a a book study, we spend time talking about the background to the letter. Now you might say, well, why is that so important? Can't we just get going in this? Here's why it's important. It's important for the same reason that if you were walking along the street and the wind blew a letter into your to your path and you picked it up and you read it, on one level, you could understand the letter, couldn't you? Because you can read English, you can read the words, etcetera. But to know who wrote it, who they wrote it to, and why they wrote it would fill in all of those things that you can read with all kinds of meaning, wouldn't it? And so that's why we spend time figuring out who wrote this thing and why he wrote it and who he was writing it to. So let's begin by asking that question. Who wrote this letter? And you might say, well, that's simple. The top of my page, it says it says Peter wrote this letter. Right? And indeed, the first verse says, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” So you could say, well, it must be it must be Peter. But realize that just because it says that Peter wrote it is not undeniable proof that Peter wrote it. This could have been written by somebody else who claimed to have been Peter. And, there are always scholars that wanna argue against these people actually being the authors of these letters, whether that be Paul or John or or here Peter. And so there are some scholars that try to stir up controversy, but to me, it's really, difficult seeing it not be Peter because later in the letter, he's going to say that he was an eyewitness to the sufferings of Christ. Well, how many Peters are there that were eyewitnesses to the sufferings of Christ? And the early church fathers, and by that, I mean, the leaders of the church in the post apostolic age. So after John and Peter and others had died, you have certain church leaders, and they all attribute this letter to being written by the Peter of the gospels, the disciple, the apostle Peter. So I think that there is little reason to doubt that Peter actually wrote this letter. And this Peter is the Peter of the gospels. This is the Peter who had a brother named Andrew who brought him to Jesus, and Jesus met him and changed his name. Do you remember? His name had been Simon. And he said, from this point on, your name is Peter or which is the Greek word, by the way, for rock, which is like a cruel joke, I think, on Peter if you read the story because perhaps he should have been named Feather because he sees the blows in the wind. But what happens in the story of Peter is that he becomes the rock at the end of the story as he assumes leadership of the disciples after Jesus' resurrection as he is a leader in the early church, and history tells us that he was crucified upside down in Rome and and refused to be crucified upright like his savior Jesus. He didn't feel he was worthy to die the same way that Jesus died. Part of the importance of First Peter and Second Peter is that given the prominence of Peter in the church, we have very little that he wrote, actually, as compared to, like, Luke, John, or Paul. Luke wrote Luke and Acts. John wrote the Gospel of John, First, Second, Third John, and Revelation. And Paul obviously wrote a bunch of letters in the New Testament. So we got lots from those guys. But Peter, in his stature, we have very little. We have First Peter and Second Peter. And so it's like the smallness of what we have actually makes it more valuable as we can see the the teaching and the emphases of this key leader in the early church. Now to who did Paul Peter write this and why did he write? And just look at verse one with me a moment. It says, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” Now I'll bet that in your private devotional reading, you get to a verse like that and you sort of skip ahead, don't you? You're like, there's gotta be some more applicable thing here than ancient geography. Right? I didn't get up this morning to read my Bible, to read ancient geography. Isn't there something a little bit more helpful to me than that? And so we easily skip over those things and uniquely, I think in First Peter, probably true of all of them, but this is actually one of the keys to understanding the entire letter. Is that verse right there? Who are these people? What is it talking about? Again, those who are elect exiles of the dispersion. Now what is that all about? Alright. Quick history lesson. Hang with me. Some of you hated it your sophomore year. This will be short. Okay? But a very quick history lesson. We go back to the Roman Empire, and most of us probably heard of the Roman Empire, one of the great human empires in in history, ruled the known world for, like, five hundred years. And they were able to pull that off because they were really smart. They had policies and things that they did that allowed them to remain in power for, like, five centuries. And one of the things that they did is actually what Peter is referring to here, and and that is what is called colonization. K? Colonization. Here's the way that it worked. The Romans had the great armies. Maybe you've seen movies that portray the Roman armies and the eagle and all of that. They would go into an area that they wanted to conquer. And largely, they would conquer. They were really good at warfare. And after they had conquered this region, they would move on to go, you know, do battle in other places. But they needed to maintain power in that region that their army had already conquered. So the strategy for them was that they would colonize that area by sending, people from Rome or who at least were Roman into that community where they would establish their lives. They would establish business. They would establish some of the things that Roman culture was known for, like the theater or the auditorium or whatever. And by doing that, essentially, they would integrate into the cult actually, the culture, the indigenous culture, would integrate into the Roman culture. And by doing that, they were able to exert Roman influence and thought and power into those, particular areas. K? So these were known as dispersions. K? Sometimes these were, political friends who wanted if it was a nice area, like if suddenly we conquered Hawaii and said, wants to go live? Well, I think I'd like to so all the friends, you know, the friends of the people in charge, they would go and they would colonize Hawaii. Sometimes these were political enemies that they wanted out of Rome. Alright. Take that family and those people and get them over in Galatia. We don't wanna see them ever again. And so off they would go. And and sometimes it was just people that were like, you know what? We think we can have a better life there. Like, you can think about even the story of The United States and the colonies on the East Coast and how people came across on the boats because they wanted a better life in the new the new world. So Rome would do that. And by doing that, they essentially would, retain a kind of control over that area by repopulating and integrating. It was essentially colonization by deportation for the purpose of domination. And that's how you retain control for five hundred years. So these people that would leave Rome or a Roman, community to go into some of these new areas, they essentially lived as exiles there. They were foreigners there. They were Romans there. And, the people that were from there knew that they were these people that had come. And this was not always a comfortable thing. Realize the Roman armies would come and conquer. They would wipe out, you know, how how many people's husbands and fathers in in, in winning the war. And now you've got representatives from there coming and living amongst us. The people from that land did not look favorably necessarily on them, especially initially. They were always from somewhere else. Right? It's kind of like living up here in the North when we hear somebody with a thick southern accent. What do you do? You look at them and you think to yourself or maybe you even say it, you're not from here are you? Right? And they're like, no I'm not. I'm from Georgia or Mississippi. Right? And you're like, what are you doing up here? Why don't you go home where you belong? Explain some people we have on staff even. But as awkward as that might be for Southerners to live up here amongst the Yankees, It was much more uncomfortable back in this day. And so they lived in a kind of ostracized way, and there was social awkwardness representing the ideology of the conquering army. So Peter here is writing then to colonists who were also Christians, who for political, social, who knows what reason had gone into Asia Minor and are now living there as representatives of the Roman Empire. Now to give you an idea of where we're talking, here's a map. And it's essentially modern day Turkey. And some of you maybe are not up on your you know, Turkey to you is a, November celebration. But it's actually a country as well. And so you see some of you see the Black Sea, and you see these communities that are being referred to, Bithynia, Galatia, Cappadocia, these would have been well known in that time and would have been places of influence, cultural influence. Essentially, what Peter does in the letter is he takes these Christians' social political situation and he draws spiritual meaning from it. He says, yes, you're exiles politically and geographically, but I wanna talk to you about what it means to be a spiritual exile. What does it mean to live in an area where you it's not your homeland. What does it mean to live in an area where people look at you a little cross eyed and they say to themselves, that person isn't they're not really of us. Their values are not our values. Their priorities are not our part. They're like those Christian people. They're those marginalized people. What is it like, and how do we live when we are the ones that are in exile, when we are the weird ones? So Peter writes to these political exiles, but he wants them to see that they are really spiritual exiles and to learn what it means to live amongst people that are very, very different. K? Very different. And so what he's gonna say in this letter is he's gonna encourage them to stand strong, to remain faithful, to live obedient to Jesus in spite of the immoral culture around them, to remain faithful even though people look at them like we look at Amish people. Kinda like, man, what's your problem? What's get with the program here. Right? Why aren't you kind of along with what we're doing? That's how they felt. And here's where I think First Peter is so helpful to us is is and I don't know if you feel this or not. I certainly do. If you talk to some of the old timers around here who remember what it was like to be a Christian, like in the nineteen forties or the nineteen fifties and maybe the early nineteen sixties, it's a much different feel back then to be a Christian in America than it is in 2015. Right? Where even to pronounce Christian faith in public media in some way is to be scorned or to have the plug pulled. Right? Get him off of there immediately. We don't want any of that kind of stuff going across the airwaves. What do we do? How do we live? What are we supposed to be like? And again, I'm talking about real Christians, nominal Christians, fit in just fine. K? I'm talking about the people that actually believe this stuff and try to live it out. How do we do it? These are the exiles that Peter is writing to. Now let's ask why are we exiles, and what is the purpose for all of this? So let's get into the text now and and begin to kind of do our little exposition here. I begin again in verse one. “To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bethenia Church.” Do you kinda get what that means now? K. “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Now a quick read here, and again, that morning devotional, moment where I'm trying to find something for my day, we could easily miss how important what Peter is saying here is. Because essentially what Peter is doing here is he's tipping his hand to the entire letter. It's kind of like in a symphony or something where in the prelude, you hear a little piece of the of the melody, and you're like, you pick up on it. Or that little Star Wars theme, if you're watching a Star Wars movie, you sort of hear that, it's either Vader or it's Skywalker. You know? And you're like you pick you pick up on it. Even in the in the in the opening scene of the movie, you kinda get a sense of what's coming. That's what this is. He's he's basically it's it's First Peter in microcosm. Peter, what are you gonna say? What is your big point to these people that are living in spiritual exile? And he begins in verse two with a series of purpose statements. The why question.Now my wife Jennifer and I, we have a 19 year old daughter. And what's wonderful at this point is that she has not discovered the word why. It's just not there yet. Did I say something wrong? Did I say year old? Peter's got something to say about that too. 19 month old daughter. Yes. So and see, we're getting that kind of Gary feel going on here. Like that. Keep it up. Keep it up. 19 month old daughter. So she's learning words at an amazing clip right now. We're thankful she's not yet learned the word why. She is unaware at this point that in life, there is all of this sort of philosophical stuff that underlies why we do what we do. So at this point, we just say, don't throw your food. She's never said, well, why is that not allowed? Right? She's unaware of purpose behind things. Peter wants to make sure that we understand that there is purpose behind things, even exile. Even the experience of spiritual exile, there's a purpose behind it. There is a why behind it, and we see that from the get go. Notice what kind of exiles are they? And can I say the question, what kind of exiles are we? What is the descriptive word for exiles? It is what? You have Bibles. Look. What is the word before exiles? We are what exiles? We're elect exiles. Elect exiles. What? I am experiencing what I'm experiencing because there's somebody that chose to put me here, chose to give me this experience? Because that's what the word elect means. It just it means chose, chosen. We are chosen exiles. You know, most exiles don't think that they are chosen exiles. You can think about the Jews in World War two, for example, in in Poland and the ghetto there, if you've seen that or studied that, they were victims of circumstance. They were victims of sociopolitical things that were beyond their control, and they suffered greatly in, in that experience. Or the Syrian refugees in our contemporary world, who there's all these, you know, there's big sort of, sociopolitical things that are at play that are creating the circumstances that they find themselves in. You could go to a Syrian refugee and say, you know, how did this happen? And he would say, well, my the president of this company country and this is going on and all of that. They would never have the thought in their mind that they were chosen to be Syrian refugees. Why? Because it's circumstantial. But here, Peter doesn't say, I'm so sorry that you are having this experience living as Christians in that land. He says, you are having that experience by divine choice. There is a God behind all of this. You are not just exiles randomly. You are exiles divinely. You have been chosen for this experience. And what a difference it makes when I realize that there is a purpose behind the pain. There is an answer to the question of why. And behind all of that is a God who is sovereignly working out everything according to the purpose of his will, Ephesians one eleven. Think about the Israelites as another sort of exile example. If you know the story of Israel, descendants of Abraham. Right? They were all time living in tents, never having a land of their own. God takes them down to Egypt. Four hundred years, they live largely under oppression there in Egypt. They're living as exiles. They're not in their the land that they're not in the promised land. They're not in the land where they're supposed to be. But there they are, and they have horrible, terrible experiences. Well, God leads them out into the hand of Moses, and they go through the Red Sea. It's not that far of a walk from Egypt to the promised land. Right? As the crow flies, where does God take them? Forty years wandering around in the wilderness. Are they like, God, is your GPS messed up? Because we could just it's just right there. We just gotta go right there. Why you guys going all over here and wandering around like this? What is the purpose behind our wanderings? What is the purpose behind our exile? Why are we experiencing all of these difficulties living a million people in a desert? Why are you doing this, God? And from the words of Moses himself, God says, “you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” In other words, God was using their physical experience, their geographical experience for spiritual purposes. And all of the difficulties and all of the uncomfortableness and all of the challenges of living in a desert for forty years was not about living in a desert for forty years, but what God wanted that desert to do in them and to teach them. There was a purpose behind it. There was a why behind it. Do you see? So that the sorrows, what Peter is saying here, the sorrows of Christianity on the margins is comforted by the confident knowledge that we have that I am where God wants me to be, and the challenges are from the hand of God as well. I am an elect exile. I am not a political exile. I am I am not a chaotic exile. I am where I am by the sovereign choice of God, which then brings meaning in the midst of the pain and the sorrows and the issues. What do people ask when they're going through a trial? What do we hear even in our church when somebody gets the cancer call? Why? God, why are you doing this? Why am I the one of all the people having to suffer this? And what do you say pastorally to people that hear that kind of news? Wow. That's really chaotic. Maybe there isn't a God. No. We say that there is a God, and that circumstance in your life is not chance. And you can trust him. He is a good God. He loves you. He sent Jesus. Right? And now the Christian begins to derive meaning from even the pain of the exile and to see that God is doing something good in it. Would this not have been wonderfully comforting? I mean, about these Christians. They're living there in Asia Minor. Would this not have been, comforting for a businessman living in Pontus who is suffering financially because he's a Christian? They know he's a Christian. They don't wanna do business with him. He's suffering because of it. Or how about the wife of a pagan husband? You want to talk about personally uncomfortable? How about the wife of a Christian wife of a pagan husband? You want to talk about issues. How about a husband who's living according to the values of the immoral Greco Roman world around him, and yet you're married to him? How do you derive any kind of hope or comfort in the midst of that? You read chapter three, and you see what Peter has to say to wives who are married to pagan husbands. And you see, whatever pick your category. All of them. The Christian sees through the physical, political, social issue a good God who is providentially behind that and is actually using that for some good in our life that maybe we can't see and maybe you can't see right now. I mean, my wife had trouble finding parking today. We have a lot of people sitting right here in front of me. Is it possible maybe one person here is in a time of trouble or has a circumstance they wish was different? What does the word of God have to say to you? You are an elect exile. There is a God who is sovereignly doing the choosing, and it is painful, and it's awkward, and it's difficult, but there is a God behind it. And we believe that by faith. Amen? Amen. Amen. So I'm not in Cappadocia by accident after all. I'm here because God wants me to be in Cappadocia. Nothing is random. Now the second thing that we have here besides being chosen by God to be in this exile is that Peter wants us to he he lifts our eyes to God himself, and he wants us to see what the triune God is doing here. And you see in the text here a very clear Trinitarian statement. “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for the obedience to Jesus Christ who is the Son.” It's one of the clearest Trinitarian statements in all of Scripture. Father, Son, and Spirit, each of them with a slightly different role in, as being described here. The foreknowledge, first of all, of the Father. Okay? Foreknowledge basically means to to know in advance. Right? To know in advance. Their exile was sovereignly known by God. God was not surprised. What are those Christians doing over there in Bithynia? I had no idea that they were gonna end up in Cappadocia. What are they up to in Galatia? God is never surprised by anything, which is itself a incredible thought, isn't it? If you're God, there are no surprise parties for God. He already knows everything. Right? He has known all of it and purposed it in eternity past, which means that when I find myself in Bithynia, God knew in eternity past that this was part of the plan. In fact, that word there is used in later in the chapter to say that Christ himself was foreknown. In eternity past, the Father knew the Son. In eternity past, the Father knew that you would be living and doing what you're doing here today. All of it, a sovereign God. There is no there are no surprises with God. There is nothing that is random with God. There is nothing that is chaotic with God. He is the sovereign God. No surprises. The sanctifying work of the Spirit. K? Sanctification is this word in the New Testament to talk about the process of God working in our lives to shape and mold us into the likeness of Jesus, the holy Son of God. And so sanctification is this kind of progressive growth and development. When I become a Christian, I to use this text, I I enter into the realm of sanctification. I am now in a process that the Holy Spirit is working in my life. Verse one says that they are in Asia, but verse two says they're actually in sanctification. So they may wanna define themselves geographically. Right? We're for the Bithynia bulldogs. Bulldogs. K. I am who I am. Some of you may be cheering sports teams today somehow related to a geography that used to have a Packer fan or I'm a Cowboys fan or whatever. Like, I'm born in Dallas or something. So you wanna define yourself geographically. When your teams aren't doing well, you don't wanna define yourself geographically. So most of us will be cheering for the Big Ten tomorrow. Sad. But Peter wants them to realize that they're not defined by their locale. They are defined their locale geographically, but by their locale spiritually. You're in the Holy Spirit now. You're in a process. You're in a world, not a pagan land. The life changing work of Jesus in us is the last thing “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” And we see in this that that the electing work of God, the choosing work of God is never without its effect. That not only did God sovereignly choose to put them in Bithynia or Galatia, but he chose through that experience to change them, to transform them for the obedience, a life of obedience to Jesus Christ. That's what God is working in all of us. If you're a Christian here today, what's God doing in my life? Well, he's doing a lot of things. But one of the things he's doing is that he is shaping and molding your heart and value mine as well so that I increasingly want to obey the will of God. I wanna be obedient to my savior Jesus. The obedience to Jesus is part of what we're doing here. And for sprinkling with his blood, and I gotta tell you, I don't know what that means. Just being honest. Commentators are all over the place. I'm not sure what that means. I think it refers somehow to the atoning work of Jesus for us, but I'm not exactly sure. Is that okay to say that? Okay. I don't know. But broadly, what this is saying is this, the Father foreknew us, the Spirit sanctifies us, the Son atoned for us and frees us from a life of sin to now this new life in Christ where I am living to the will of God, and I am pleasing God with my life, and all of it is by God and for God. He foreknew it. He purposed it. He's working in it right now. He is the sovereign hand, the loving hand behind all of it. So that these people might have thought to themselves if they were political exiles, they might have thought to themselves, I am in Galatia by the choice of man. And Peter writes this letter and says, you are in Galatia by the choice of God. He is the one that is behind all that is happening here. Alright. With the time remaining, I have one application point. And this is just the salutation of the letter. Okay? But one application point that I'd like to talk with you about, and it's this. When we are in exile, we wanna change where we are. God wants to change who we are. When we are in exile, God wants or we wanna change where we are. God wants to change who we are. If you talk to an exile and you say, hey. What is the solution to your problem? They are generally going to say, the answer to my problem is to change where I am. Like, I'm not in my homeland. I'm not where I'm supposed to be. And if I was to get where I'm supposed to be, in other words, if I was to change my geography, then everything would be great. Like, take a week like this as an example. This week, I feel like a climate exile. I experienced a week like we've had around here, and I think to myself, I do not live where I'm supposed to live. I am supposed to live in a warmer climate than this. Friday night, Jennifer and I were we spent some time with some friends, and we came back to the church here to pick up my car. I forget how cold it was Friday night, but it was like, you know, zero or minus or something. And we get there, and I get in my car. No. So we spent, I don't know, forty five minutes trying to jump my car off of our van. And it was one of those experiences where there's cold and then there's that cold. Right? I was so cold trying to get that thing started. It took us like forty five minutes, and I was just absolutely frozen. This was a terrible week around here. Right? Horrible week. We're all climate exiles. What do we need? We need to change our geography. We need to live somewhere different. We need a different climate than the one that we've been experiencing. They would have amen in Gary on that. So if you talk to the climate exile, they're going to say, I need a change of geography, right? There's some other place that they would rather be. Do we have any marriage exiles? What's a marriage exile? You've come to the conclusion that the person that you're married to is not the person that you're supposed to be married to, and the solution for you would be to be either not married or married to somebody different. Do we have any vocational exiles here? The solution to happiness in your life would be a different job. You feel like you're being persecuted on the job or you feel like you have an unfair boss, you got some other thing going on. So what's the solution? I need a different job. Do we have any health exiles here? You've got some ailment, you've got some problem, you've got the cancer call in your mind, what's the solution? I need a different body, right? If had a different body, then everything would be fine or pick your category. Generally speaking, our solution to our problems is to change where we are. And then we read this verse here. Elect exiles. Elect exiles. Do you mean that the exile that I am experiencing, that trial that I am going through, that experience that I wish was different and in my mind I can think of three different ways to get out of it? That that is something that God has brought into my life by his sovereign hand and good. Yes. And Peter goes on here to say that good is something not about changing where you are, but changing the person that you are. In other words, my heart, my mind, my my my my spiritual depth and quality, God is in the process of changing that. And you know what? He oftentimes puts us in Cappadocia to do it. We wanna get back to Rome. In fact, what's striking here is he doesn't say to exiles of the dispersion, get out of Bithynia now. Get back to Rome. The streets are clean, and the coffee's good, and the sun is shining. Get out of there. He doesn't say that one place in the whole letter. Why not? Because Peter realized something, that they were elect exiles, that their experience of all of this discomfort was something that God wanted in their life. Well, why would God want that in our life? Because he uses Bithynia, Cappadocia, and the people and the experiences of our life to produce change that would never happen in Rome. And so here you are today, and spiritually speaking or, you know, in your life, you feel like you're in exile, and you want change. I wonder if you can hear the word of God today saying to you. Here's the word. The change that I want is within you. And as Christians, for us to embrace trials, and this is not easy. I think about trials that I've gone through in my life, and in the midst of it, you're like, I want out now. But to pray to God, heavenly Father, I'm not sure what you're doing in this, but I sense in my heart that you are breaking me. You're breaking my pride. You're breaking my self dependence. You're helping me to live by faith. And I just want to say that I surrender to your purpose in Cappadocia. Don't you think I have a loving heavenly Father would answer that prayer? Don't you think that he delights? In fact, is it possible that he put you there to get you to that point of surrender in the first place? And now from that point, God's purpose can be lived out because that aspect of me, pride, whatever is taken away in a way now that I can live in obedience to the will of Jesus Christ according to the foreknowledge of the of of the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit as I made more and more into likeness of Christ. Oh, by the way, what does that sound like? That whole, I'm not where I'm supposed to be. I'm not where I'm from. I'm experiencing pain and yet I want your will in my life. Who does that sound? Does that sound familiar to me? Is that not Christ himself who left his Father's throne above, left his experience of heaven, came into this broken world with all of its pain and all of its sin and all of its brokenness. You you wanna talk about somebody who didn't fit in. How about the Son of God on earth with us? Right? How often people looked at him and thought you must not be from here because you are not buying into the way that we do things at all. And for him to go through that entire experience and to suffer. I think of the old song, he could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set him free in a moment. Gone. You can't afford the plane ticket. That was not an issue with Jesus. And yet he remained. And the night before he was crucified, prayed. “Father, if there's any way for this cup to pass from me, I ask that it would be so.” There's an honest prayer. We've all prayed that. Right? Take this cup from me, please. “Yet not my will, but your will be done.” There is the bottom line. When we are in an experience that we deem undesirable, a long term trial, I think we can be honest with God. I don't wanna live in Bithynia. I'm tired of Cappadocia. But my bottom line, God, is that I want what you want in my life. I believe that your plan is better than mine, and I embrace the change that you are working within me. This is the example of Jesus himself. And I hope that his example would help us realize that even if you're about to be crucified, you can know that there is a sovereign God who is doing good through it. And indeed he did, through that crucifixion, a savior for the world. And that's just the prelude. That's First Peter. So much more good stuff to come. I hope God blesses and uses it. Let's stand together for prayer.* This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.

I Peter 2:9-12

The pockets are grace from Genesis 3 can't hide the horrible effects of sin onhumanity seen in Genesis 4. The (Wrong) Way of Cain / Genesis 4:1-16 / 09-5/6-2026- The Righteous vs The ReligiousHypocrisy is doing the Devil's work in God's uniform (MH)Apostasy is…True, False, & Vain worshipI. Fleeting Joy of the firstborn  1.  Eve credited God (positive) -  2.  Cain worked the ground -  3.  Cain brought an offering to the Lord (act of worship)  4.  God accepted Abel's offering but rejected Cain's offering  5.  Cain is angry & his face fell (internal / external reaction)  6.  The Lord warns Cain - 2nd example of bib counseling (first was Gen 3:9-11)  7.  Cain kills Abel - v. 8  8.  Cain lies to God - v. 9  9.  God curses Cain - vv. 10-12  10.  Cain questions his consequences - vv. 13-14  11.  God protects Cain - example  12.  Cain leaves God's presenceII. Lineage of Hypocrisy/Apostasy  1.  Cain - Jude 1:8-13  ⁃  Cain's Offering - I Jn 3:10-12  ⁃  Balaam's Bribe (the donkey) - Numbers 22:7, 22-35  ⁃  Korah's Rebellion (the ground) - Numbers 16:1-50 (Dathan & Abiram) vv. 1-5 (v. 3) -  ⁃  Judas (the box & the kiss) -  2.  Israel - Isaiah 29:13  3.  Pharisees - Mark 7:6-7 TFV  4.  Judas - The Hypocrisy (nard); The Kiss (betrayal) - “on the night He was betrayed took  5.  bread”); The Anguish “wept bitterly” as did Peter after three denials - II Cor 7:10); Mt  6.  26:47-50  7.  Peter exposes them - I Peter 2:4-8; II Peter 2:1-22;  8.  Paul exposes them - I Timothy 1:6-7; 4:1-5; 5:8; 6:3-5, 9-10; II Timothy 3:1-9; 4:1-5  9.  The Writer of Hebrews 11:3-4 (BY FAITH we believe God created the universe & BY FAITH  10.  Abel offered God a commendable & righteous sacrifice. His offering still speaks to the  11.  faithful today!+ John 3:16-20

Steve DeWitt Spiritual Exiles - Part A Study Guide for Spiritual Exiles, I Peter 1:1-2 Scripture Reference: 1 Peter 1:1-2 Visit the series page: Exiles: A study in 1 Peter Donate to Support The Journey Sermon Transcript for Spiritual Exiles, I Peter 1:1-2 Message: Spiritual ExilesAirdate: 9/4 & 9/7/26, Programs 2350 & 2351Studying through books of the Bible has been, has really been the bread and butter of our church over the years. And, today, we begin a new series as you've seen on the screen in the, the book or the letter of First Peter. And you might ask, well, why First Peter? I mean, because from one perspective, we really could open the Bible anywhere and have things that would be profitable to us. That's what, Scripture says about itself, that all Scripture is God breathed, that is profitable. So we really could go. We could go to Leviticus. We could go to Psalms. We could go to Revelation, and there would be a quality word that God would have for us. But why First Peter? Well, I've chosen First Peter because it is so wonderfully relevant to, life as we are living it increasingly here in our culture and our society where we find ourselves as Christians and particularly as evangelical Christians increasingly on the margins of society. More and more it seems that to actually believe in Jesus is a, you know, small s scandalous sort of thing. And by that, I mean, not nominal Christianity. Nominal Christianity will fit in anywhere. Nominal Christians are accepted. But if you actually believe it, like you're one of those crazy people that actually believe the gospel, and you really believe in, the resurrection, and you really believe in that the world was created and things like that, more and more, people are looking down their nose at that and pushing us to the fringe of the culture. And First Peter is written for the church in exile. First Peter is written for a church on the margins. It is written for the persecuted church. It's written, for the ostracized church. It is written for the hated church. I read somebody that basically said, the more irrelevant Christianity becomes, the more relevant First Peter becomes because it's written for that church that is in exile in its culture. The title of the series comes from the first words in, Peter's letter where he addresses it and says, to those who are elect exiles. Exiles where and exiles why we're going to, get into. And I dare say that by the time we're done with this series, I'll bet First Peter might be in the running for your favorite book in all the Bible. Luther himself said about First Peter that it is, quote, “one of the noblest books in the New Testament,” and he put it on par with Romans and the Gospel of John, which is saying something, isn't it? So, it's a wonderful letter, and I think it's gonna be a real blessing to all of us. We're going to work through it in a style of teaching, known as expository preaching. And what that means is that week in and week out, we're going to look at the text as Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, wrote it. We're gonna ask the question, what did Peter and the Holy Spirit mean when they wrote that particular text? And then we are going to draw out of that meaning as it was originally intended and apply it to our lives today. What does that mean for us today? I wanna encourage you to come each week, every week with expository preaching is a fresh text, which means that it is a fresh word from God for us. And I think that it will be, it will be a blessing. So with that, let me just pray and ask God's blessing on this entire teaching series. Father, we ask that you would please, as you have done down through the centuries, that you would take your holy word, that you would enlighten it to our understanding, and that you would powerfully apply it to our lives and to our church and through us to the culture around us. We pray that this series would be just uniquely blessed by you, and all the good that can be done from it has little to do with, me or any of our teachers and pastors, but it depends on your Holy Spirit's blessing, and we seek that and we ask for it. Bless even now in in in in this day as we begin in in our study. We pray that this would be a great launch, and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen. Now as we always do when we begin a a book study, we spend time talking about the background to the letter. Now you might say, well, why is that so important? Can't we just get going in this? Here's why it's important. It's important for the same reason that if you were walking along the street and the wind blew a letter into your to your path and you picked it up and you read it, on one level, you could understand the letter, couldn't you? Because you can read English, you can read the words, etcetera. But to know who wrote it, who they wrote it to, and why they wrote it would fill in all of those things that you can read with all kinds of meaning, wouldn't it? And so that's why we spend time figuring out who wrote this thing and why he wrote it and who he was writing it to. So let's begin by asking that question. Who wrote this letter? And you might say, well, that's simple. The top of my page, it says it says Peter wrote this letter. Right? And indeed, the first verse says, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.” So you could say, well, it must be it must be Peter. But realize that just because it says that Peter wrote it is not undeniable proof that Peter wrote it. This could have been written by somebody else who claimed to have been Peter. And, there are always scholars that wanna argue against these people actually being the authors of these letters, whether that be Paul or John or or here Peter. And so there are some scholars that try to stir up controversy, but to me, it's really, difficult seeing it not be Peter because later in the letter, he's going to say that he was an eyewitness to the sufferings of Christ. Well, how many Peters are there that were eyewitnesses to the sufferings of Christ? And the early church fathers, and by that, I mean, the leaders of the church in the post apostolic age. So after John and Peter and others had died, you have certain church leaders, and they all attribute this letter to being written by the Peter of the gospels, the disciple, the apostle Peter. So I think that there is little reason to doubt that Peter actually wrote this letter. And this Peter is the Peter of the gospels. This is the Peter who had a brother named Andrew who brought him to Jesus, and Jesus met him and changed his name. Do you remember? His name had been Simon. And he said, from this point on, your name is Peter or which is the Greek word, by the way, for rock, which is like a cruel joke, I think, on Peter if you read the story because perhaps he should have been named Feather because he sees the blows in the wind. But what happens in the story of Peter is that he becomes the rock at the end of the story as he assumes leadership of the disciples after Jesus' resurrection as he is a leader in the early church, and history tells us that he was crucified upside down in Rome and and refused to be crucified upright like his savior Jesus. He didn't feel he was worthy to die the same way that Jesus died. Part of the importance of First Peter and Second Peter is that given the prominence of Peter in the church, we have very little that he wrote, actually, as compared to, like, Luke, John, or Paul. Luke wrote Luke and Acts. John wrote the Gospel of John, First, Second, Third John, and Revelation. And Paul obviously wrote a bunch of letters in the New Testament. So we got lots from those guys. But Peter, in his stature, we have very little. We have First Peter and Second Peter. And so it's like the smallness of what we have actually makes it more valuable as we can see the the teaching and the emphases of this key leader in the early church. Now to who did Paul Peter write this and why did he write? And just look at verse one with me a moment. It says, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.” Now I'll bet that in your private devotional reading, you get to a verse like that and you sort of skip ahead, don't you? You're like, there's gotta be some more applicable thing here than ancient geography. Right? I didn't get up this morning to read my Bible, to read ancient geography. Isn't there something a little bit more helpful to me than that? And so we easily skip over those things and uniquely, I think in First Peter, probably true of all of them, but this is actually one of the keys to understanding the entire letter. Is that verse right there? Who are these people? What is it talking about? Again, those who are elect exiles of the dispersion. Now what is that all about? Alright. Quick history lesson. Hang with me. Some of you hated it your sophomore year. This will be short. Okay? But a very quick history lesson. We go back to the Roman Empire, and most of us probably heard of the Roman Empire, one of the great human empires in in history, ruled the known world for, like, five hundred years. And they were able to pull that off because they were really smart. They had policies and things that they did that allowed them to remain in power for, like, five centuries. And one of the things that they did is actually what Peter is referring to here, and and that is what is called colonization. K? Colonization. Here's the way that it worked. The Romans had the great armies. Maybe you've seen movies that portray the Roman armies and the eagle and all of that. They would go into an area that they wanted to conquer. And largely, they would conquer. They were really good at warfare. And after they had conquered this region, they would move on to go, you know, do battle in other places. But they needed to maintain power in that region that their army had already conquered. So the strategy for them was that they would colonize that area by sending, people from Rome or who at least were Roman into that community where they would establish their lives. They would establish business. They would establish some of the things that Roman culture was known for, like the theater or the auditorium or whatever. And by doing that, essentially, they would integrate into the cult actually, the culture, the indigenous culture, would integrate into the Roman culture. And by doing that, they were able to exert Roman influence and thought and power into those, particular areas. K? So these were known as dispersions. K? Sometimes these were, political friends who wanted if it was a nice area, like if suddenly we conquered Hawaii and said, wants to go live? Well, I think I'd like to so all the friends, you know, the friends of the people in charge, they would go and they would colonize Hawaii. Sometimes these were political enemies that they wanted out of Rome. Alright. Take that family and those people and get them over in Galatia. We don't wanna see them ever again. And so off they would go. And and sometimes it was just people that were like, you know what? We think we can have a better life there. Like, you can think about even the story of The United States and the colonies on the East Coast and how people came across on the boats because they wanted a better life in the new the new world. So Rome would do that. And by doing that, they essentially would, retain a kind of control over that area by repopulating and integrating. It was essentially colonization by deportation for the purpose of domination. And that's how you retain control for five hundred years. So these people that would leave Rome or a Roman, community to go into some of these new areas, they essentially lived as exiles there. They were foreigners there. They were Romans there. And, the people that were from there knew that they were these people that had come. And this was not always a comfortable thing. Realize the Roman armies would come and conquer. They would wipe out, you know, how how many people's husbands and fathers in in, in winning the war. And now you've got representatives from there coming and living amongst us. The people from that land did not look favorably necessarily on them, especially initially. They were always from somewhere else. Right? It's kind of like living up here in the North when we hear somebody with a thick southern accent. What do you do? You look at them and you think to yourself or maybe you even say it, you're not from here are you? Right? And they're like, no I'm not. I'm from Georgia or Mississippi. Right? And you're like, what are you doing up here? Why don't you go home where you belong? Explain some people we have on staff even. But as awkward as that might be for Southerners to live up here amongst the Yankees, It was much more uncomfortable back in this day. And so they lived in a kind of ostracized way, and there was social awkwardness representing the ideology of the conquering army. So Peter here is writing then to colonists who were also Christians, who for political, social, who knows what reason had gone into Asia Minor and are now living there as representatives of the Roman Empire. Now to give you an idea of where we're talking, here's a map. And it's essentially modern day Turkey. And some of you maybe are not up on your you know, Turkey to you is a, November celebration. But it's actually a country as well. And so you see some of you see the Black Sea, and you see these communities that are being referred to, Bithynia, Galatia, Cappadocia, these would have been well known in that time and would have been places of influence, cultural influence. Essentially, what Peter does in the letter is he takes these Christians' social political situation and he draws spiritual meaning from it. He says, yes, you're exiles politically and geographically, but I wanna talk to you about what it means to be a spiritual exile. What does it mean to live in an area where you it's not your homeland. What does it mean to live in an area where people look at you a little cross eyed and they say to themselves, that person isn't they're not really of us. Their values are not our values. Their priorities are not our part. They're like those Christian people. They're those marginalized people. What is it like, and how do we live when we are the ones that are in exile, when we are the weird ones? So Peter writes to these political exiles, but he wants them to see that they are really spiritual exiles and to learn what it means to live amongst people that are very, very different. K? Very different. And so what he's gonna say in this letter is he's gonna encourage them to stand strong, to remain faithful, to live obedient to Jesus in spite of the immoral culture around them, to remain faithful even though people look at them like we look at Amish people. Kinda like, man, what's your problem? What's get with the program here. Right? Why aren't you kind of along with what we're doing? That's how they felt. And here's where I think First Peter is so helpful to us is is and I don't know if you feel this or not. I certainly do. If you talk to some of the old timers around here who remember what it was like to be a Christian, like in the nineteen forties or the nineteen fifties and maybe the early nineteen sixties, it's a much different feel back then to be a Christian in America than it is in 2015. Right? Where even to pronounce Christian faith in public media in some way is to be scorned or to have the plug pulled. Right? Get him off of there immediately. We don't want any of that kind of stuff going across the airwaves. What do we do? How do we live? What are we supposed to be like? And again, I'm talking about real Christians, nominal Christians, fit in just fine. K? I'm talking about the people that actually believe this stuff and try to live it out. How do we do it? These are the exiles that Peter is writing to. Now let's ask why are we exiles, and what is the purpose for all of this? So let's get into the text now and and begin to kind of do our little exposition here. I begin again in verse one. “To those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bethenia Church.” Do you kinda get what that means now? K. “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” May grace and peace be multiplied to you. Now a quick read here, and again, that morning devotional, moment where I'm trying to find something for my day, we could easily miss how important what Peter is saying here is. Because essentially what Peter is doing here is he's tipping his hand to the entire letter. It's kind of like in a symphony or something where in the prelude, you hear a little piece of the of the melody, and you're like, you pick up on it. Or that little Star Wars theme, if you're watching a Star Wars movie, you sort of hear that, it's either Vader or it's Skywalker. You know? And you're like you pick you pick up on it. Even in the in the in the opening scene of the movie, you kinda get a sense of what's coming. That's what this is. He's he's basically it's it's First Peter in microcosm. Peter, what are you gonna say? What is your big point to these people that are living in spiritual exile? And he begins in verse two with a series of purpose statements. The why question.Now my wife Jennifer and I, we have a 19 year old daughter. And what's wonderful at this point is that she has not discovered the word why. It's just not there yet. Did I say something wrong? Did I say year old? Peter's got something to say about that too. 19 month old daughter. Yes. So and see, we're getting that kind of Gary feel going on here. Like that. Keep it up. Keep it up. 19 month old daughter. So she's learning words at an amazing clip right now. We're thankful she's not yet learned the word why. She is unaware at this point that in life, there is all of this sort of philosophical stuff that underlies why we do what we do. So at this point, we just say, don't throw your food. She's never said, well, why is that not allowed? Right? She's unaware of purpose behind things. Peter wants to make sure that we understand that there is purpose behind things, even exile. Even the experience of spiritual exile, there's a purpose behind it. There is a why behind it, and we see that from the get go. Notice what kind of exiles are they? And can I say the question, what kind of exiles are we? What is the descriptive word for exiles? It is what? You have Bibles. Look. What is the word before exiles? We are what exiles? We're elect exiles. Elect exiles. What? I am experiencing what I'm experiencing because there's somebody that chose to put me here, chose to give me this experience? Because that's what the word elect means. It just it means chose, chosen. We are chosen exiles. You know, most exiles don't think that they are chosen exiles. You can think about the Jews in World War two, for example, in in Poland and the ghetto there, if you've seen that or studied that, they were victims of circumstance. They were victims of sociopolitical things that were beyond their control, and they suffered greatly in, in that experience. Or the Syrian refugees in our contemporary world, who there's all these, you know, there's big sort of, sociopolitical things that are at play that are creating the circumstances that they find themselves in. You could go to a Syrian refugee and say, you know, how did this happen? And he would say, well, my the president of this company country and this is going on and all of that. They would never have the thought in their mind that they were chosen to be Syrian refugees. Why? Because it's circumstantial. But here, Peter doesn't say, I'm so sorry that you are having this experience living as Christians in that land. He says, you are having that experience by divine choice. There is a God behind all of this. You are not just exiles randomly. You are exiles divinely. You have been chosen for this experience. And what a difference it makes when I realize that there is a purpose behind the pain. There is an answer to the question of why. And behind all of that is a God who is sovereignly working out everything according to the purpose of his will, Ephesians one eleven. Think about the Israelites as another sort of exile example. If you know the story of Israel, descendants of Abraham. Right? They were all time living in tents, never having a land of their own. God takes them down to Egypt. Four hundred years, they live largely under oppression there in Egypt. They're living as exiles. They're not in their the land that they're not in the promised land. They're not in the land where they're supposed to be. But there they are, and they have horrible, terrible experiences. Well, God leads them out into the hand of Moses, and they go through the Red Sea. It's not that far of a walk from Egypt to the promised land. Right? As the crow flies, where does God take them? Forty years wandering around in the wilderness. Are they like, God, is your GPS messed up? Because we could just it's just right there. We just gotta go right there. Why you guys going all over here and wandering around like this? What is the purpose behind our wanderings? What is the purpose behind our exile? Why are we experiencing all of these difficulties living a million people in a desert? Why are you doing this, God? And from the words of Moses himself, God says, “you shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” In other words, God was using their physical experience, their geographical experience for spiritual purposes. And all of the difficulties and all of the uncomfortableness and all of the challenges of living in a desert for forty years was not about living in a desert for forty years, but what God wanted that desert to do in them and to teach them. There was a purpose behind it. There was a why behind it. Do you see? So that the sorrows, what Peter is saying here, the sorrows of Christianity on the margins is comforted by the confident knowledge that we have that I am where God wants me to be, and the challenges are from the hand of God as well. I am an elect exile. I am not a political exile. I am I am not a chaotic exile. I am where I am by the sovereign choice of God, which then brings meaning in the midst of the pain and the sorrows and the issues. What do people ask when they're going through a trial? What do we hear even in our church when somebody gets the cancer call? Why? God, why are you doing this? Why am I the one of all the people having to suffer this? And what do you say pastorally to people that hear that kind of news? Wow. That's really chaotic. Maybe there isn't a God. No. We say that there is a God, and that circumstance in your life is not chance. And you can trust him. He is a good God. He loves you. He sent Jesus. Right? And now the Christian begins to derive meaning from even the pain of the exile and to see that God is doing something good in it. Would this not have been wonderfully comforting? I mean, about these Christians. They're living there in Asia Minor. Would this not have been, comforting for a businessman living in Pontus who is suffering financially because he's a Christian? They know he's a Christian. They don't wanna do business with him. He's suffering because of it. Or how about the wife of a pagan husband? You want to talk about personally uncomfortable? How about the wife of a Christian wife of a pagan husband? You want to talk about issues. How about a husband who's living according to the values of the immoral Greco Roman world around him, and yet you're married to him? How do you derive any kind of hope or comfort in the midst of that? You read chapter three, and you see what Peter has to say to wives who are married to pagan husbands. And you see, whatever pick your category. All of them. The Christian sees through the physical, political, social issue a good God who is providentially behind that and is actually using that for some good in our life that maybe we can't see and maybe you can't see right now. I mean, my wife had trouble finding parking today. We have a lot of people sitting right here in front of me. Is it possible maybe one person here is in a time of trouble or has a circumstance they wish was different? What does the word of God have to say to you? You are an elect exile. There is a God who is sovereignly doing the choosing, and it is painful, and it's awkward, and it's difficult, but there is a God behind it. And we believe that by faith. Amen? Amen. Amen. So I'm not in Cappadocia by accident after all. I'm here because God wants me to be in Cappadocia. Nothing is random. Now the second thing that we have here besides being chosen by God to be in this exile is that Peter wants us to he he lifts our eyes to God himself, and he wants us to see what the triune God is doing here. And you see in the text here a very clear Trinitarian statement. “According to the foreknowledge of God the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit for the obedience to Jesus Christ who is the Son.” It's one of the clearest Trinitarian statements in all of Scripture. Father, Son, and Spirit, each of them with a slightly different role in, as being described here. The foreknowledge, first of all, of the Father. Okay? Foreknowledge basically means to to know in advance. Right? To know in advance. Their exile was sovereignly known by God. God was not surprised. What are those Christians doing over there in Bithynia? I had no idea that they were gonna end up in Cappadocia. What are they up to in Galatia? God is never surprised by anything, which is itself a incredible thought, isn't it? If you're God, there are no surprise parties for God. He already knows everything. Right? He has known all of it and purposed it in eternity past, which means that when I find myself in Bithynia, God knew in eternity past that this was part of the plan. In fact, that word there is used in later in the chapter to say that Christ himself was foreknown. In eternity past, the Father knew the Son. In eternity past, the Father knew that you would be living and doing what you're doing here today. All of it, a sovereign God. There is no there are no surprises with God. There is nothing that is random with God. There is nothing that is chaotic with God. He is the sovereign God. No surprises. The sanctifying work of the Spirit. K? Sanctification is this word in the New Testament to talk about the process of God working in our lives to shape and mold us into the likeness of Jesus, the holy Son of God. And so sanctification is this kind of progressive growth and development. When I become a Christian, I to use this text, I I enter into the realm of sanctification. I am now in a process that the Holy Spirit is working in my life. Verse one says that they are in Asia, but verse two says they're actually in sanctification. So they may wanna define themselves geographically. Right? We're for the Bithynia bulldogs. Bulldogs. K. I am who I am. Some of you may be cheering sports teams today somehow related to a geography that used to have a Packer fan or I'm a Cowboys fan or whatever. Like, I'm born in Dallas or something. So you wanna define yourself geographically. When your teams aren't doing well, you don't wanna define yourself geographically. So most of us will be cheering for the Big Ten tomorrow. Sad. But Peter wants them to realize that they're not defined by their locale. They are defined their locale geographically, but by their locale spiritually. You're in the Holy Spirit now. You're in a process. You're in a world, not a pagan land. The life changing work of Jesus in us is the last thing “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” And we see in this that that the electing work of God, the choosing work of God is never without its effect. That not only did God sovereignly choose to put them in Bithynia or Galatia, but he chose through that experience to change them, to transform them for the obedience, a life of obedience to Jesus Christ. That's what God is working in all of us. If you're a Christian here today, what's God doing in my life? Well, he's doing a lot of things. But one of the things he's doing is that he is shaping and molding your heart and value mine as well so that I increasingly want to obey the will of God. I wanna be obedient to my savior Jesus. The obedience to Jesus is part of what we're doing here. And for sprinkling with his blood, and I gotta tell you, I don't know what that means. Just being honest. Commentators are all over the place. I'm not sure what that means. I think it refers somehow to the atoning work of Jesus for us, but I'm not exactly sure. Is that okay to say that? Okay. I don't know. But broadly, what this is saying is this, the Father foreknew us, the Spirit sanctifies us, the Son atoned for us and frees us from a life of sin to now this new life in Christ where I am living to the will of God, and I am pleasing God with my life, and all of it is by God and for God. He foreknew it. He purposed it. He's working in it right now. He is the sovereign hand, the loving hand behind all of it. So that these people might have thought to themselves if they were political exiles, they might have thought to themselves, I am in Galatia by the choice of man. And Peter writes this letter and says, you are in Galatia by the choice of God. He is the one that is behind all that is happening here. Alright. With the time remaining, I have one application point. And this is just the salutation of the letter. Okay? But one application point that I'd like to talk with you about, and it's this. When we are in exile, we wanna change where we are. God wants to change who we are. When we are in exile, God wants or we wanna change where we are. God wants to change who we are. If you talk to an exile and you say, hey. What is the solution to your problem? They are generally going to say, the answer to my problem is to change where I am. Like, I'm not in my homeland. I'm not where I'm supposed to be. And if I was to get where I'm supposed to be, in other words, if I was to change my geography, then everything would be great. Like, take a week like this as an example. This week, I feel like a climate exile. I experienced a week like we've had around here, and I think to myself, I do not live where I'm supposed to live. I am supposed to live in a warmer climate than this. Friday night, Jennifer and I were we spent some time with some friends, and we came back to the church here to pick up my car. I forget how cold it was Friday night, but it was like, you know, zero or minus or something. And we get there, and I get in my car. No. So we spent, I don't know, forty five minutes trying to jump my car off of our van. And it was one of those experiences where there's cold and then there's that cold. Right? I was so cold trying to get that thing started. It took us like forty five minutes, and I was just absolutely frozen. This was a terrible week around here. Right? Horrible week. We're all climate exiles. What do we need? We need to change our geography. We need to live somewhere different. We need a different climate than the one that we've been experiencing. They would have amen in Gary on that. So if you talk to the climate exile, they're going to say, I need a change of geography, right? There's some other place that they would rather be. Do we have any marriage exiles? What's a marriage exile? You've come to the conclusion that the person that you're married to is not the person that you're supposed to be married to, and the solution for you would be to be either not married or married to somebody different. Do we have any vocational exiles here? The solution to happiness in your life would be a different job. You feel like you're being persecuted on the job or you feel like you have an unfair boss, you got some other thing going on. So what's the solution? I need a different job. Do we have any health exiles here? You've got some ailment, you've got some problem, you've got the cancer call in your mind, what's the solution? I need a different body, right? If had a different body, then everything would be fine or pick your category. Generally speaking, our solution to our problems is to change where we are. And then we read this verse here. Elect exiles. Elect exiles. Do you mean that the exile that I am experiencing, that trial that I am going through, that experience that I wish was different and in my mind I can think of three different ways to get out of it? That that is something that God has brought into my life by his sovereign hand and good. Yes. And Peter goes on here to say that good is something not about changing where you are, but changing the person that you are. In other words, my heart, my mind, my my my my spiritual depth and quality, God is in the process of changing that. And you know what? He oftentimes puts us in Cappadocia to do it. We wanna get back to Rome. In fact, what's striking here is he doesn't say to exiles of the dispersion, get out of Bithynia now. Get back to Rome. The streets are clean, and the coffee's good, and the sun is shining. Get out of there. He doesn't say that one place in the whole letter. Why not? Because Peter realized something, that they were elect exiles, that their experience of all of this discomfort was something that God wanted in their life. Well, why would God want that in our life? Because he uses Bithynia, Cappadocia, and the people and the experiences of our life to produce change that would never happen in Rome. And so here you are today, and spiritually speaking or, you know, in your life, you feel like you're in exile, and you want change. I wonder if you can hear the word of God today saying to you. Here's the word. The change that I want is within you. And as Christians, for us to embrace trials, and this is not easy. I think about trials that I've gone through in my life, and in the midst of it, you're like, I want out now. But to pray to God, heavenly Father, I'm not sure what you're doing in this, but I sense in my heart that you are breaking me. You're breaking my pride. You're breaking my self dependence. You're helping me to live by faith. And I just want to say that I surrender to your purpose in Cappadocia. Don't you think I have a loving heavenly Father would answer that prayer? Don't you think that he delights? In fact, is it possible that he put you there to get you to that point of surrender in the first place? And now from that point, God's purpose can be lived out because that aspect of me, pride, whatever is taken away in a way now that I can live in obedience to the will of Jesus Christ according to the foreknowledge of the of of the Father in the sanctification of the Spirit as I made more and more into likeness of Christ. Oh, by the way, what does that sound like? That whole, I'm not where I'm supposed to be. I'm not where I'm from. I'm experiencing pain and yet I want your will in my life. Who does that sound? Does that sound familiar to me? Is that not Christ himself who left his Father's throne above, left his experience of heaven, came into this broken world with all of its pain and all of its sin and all of its brokenness. You you wanna talk about somebody who didn't fit in. How about the Son of God on earth with us? Right? How often people looked at him and thought you must not be from here because you are not buying into the way that we do things at all. And for him to go through that entire experience and to suffer. I think of the old song, he could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set him free in a moment. Gone. You can't afford the plane ticket. That was not an issue with Jesus. And yet he remained. And the night before he was crucified, prayed. “Father, if there's any way for this cup to pass from me, I ask that it would be so.” There's an honest prayer. We've all prayed that. Right? Take this cup from me, please. “Yet not my will, but your will be done.” There is the bottom line. When we are in an experience that we deem undesirable, a long term trial, I think we can be honest with God. I don't wanna live in Bithynia. I'm tired of Cappadocia. But my bottom line, God, is that I want what you want in my life. I believe that your plan is better than mine, and I embrace the change that you are working within me. This is the example of Jesus himself. And I hope that his example would help us realize that even if you're about to be crucified, you can know that there is a sovereign God who is doing good through it. And indeed he did, through that crucifixion, a savior for the world. And that's just the prelude. That's First Peter. So much more good stuff to come. I hope God blesses and uses it. Let's stand together for prayer.* This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.

*Listen to the Show notes and podcast transcript with this multi-language player. Summary God's people are called to embody and speak His living Word. Because His Word carries creative power and accomplishes His purposes, words spoken in alignment with Him can minister life, freedom, peace, and revelation to others. As believers spend time in God's presence, His rest and peace become part of them and flow naturally to those with receptive hearts. The ecclesia—God's called-out people—is being matured and equipped to express Christ as a many-membered body. Their calling is to listen, believe, proclaim what God has spoken, and trust Him to fulfill it. Show Notes Believers were created to express the living Word from within.God's Word carries the power necessary to accomplish His purpose.A word aligned with Christ continues working beyond what the speaker can see.The Church is not primarily an institution; it is a people called and defined by God.Spiritual maturity requires attentiveness to God's presence and learning to walk by the Spirit.Time in God's presence produces rest and peace.The life of Christ can be communicated through ordinary conversation.Speaking God's promises back to Him builds confidence and replaces inner striving.Believers are called to serve as watchmen who remember and proclaim God's promises.God speaks through human vessels and through the many-membered Body of Christ.The results of a spoken word may remain unseen, but believers can trust God to continue His work.God's Spirit can free people from rigid ideologies and open their hearts to truth. Key Quotes “We are living stones raised up to speak a living word.” — Ken“Everything in that word that was spoken is contained in it.” — Ron“We are learning to walk in the Spirit.” — Debbie“I just be who I am in the Lord, and what's in me emanates from me.” — Mike“He said it, and He's gonna do it.” — Sherry“A word that God is speaking is being spoken through a human vessel.” — Dale“Speaking the word out in a conversational form…is the highest form of prophecy.” — Mike“What a privilege it is to live in this day where God is moving through the many-membered body.” — Ken Scriptural References John 1 (1-4, 14)— Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh and the source of life.II Corinthians 3 (2-3)— Believers are living letters of Christ, written by the Spirit.I Peter 2 (4-5)— God's people are living stones being built into a spiritual house.Isaiah 55 (10-11)— God's Word does not return empty but accomplishes His purpose.Psalm 119 (89)— God's Word is forever settled in heaven.Jeremiah 1 (12)— God watches over His Word to perform it.Hebrews 4 (12)— The Word of God is living, active, and penetrating.Mark 9 (38-40)— Jesus tells His disciples not to stop those working in His name.I Peter 2 (9)— God calls His people out of darkness to proclaim His excellencies.Romans 8 (14)— God's children are led by His Spirit.Galatians 5 (25)— Those who live by the Spirit are called to walk by the Spirit.Hebrews 4 (9-11)— God's people are invited to enter His rest.John 14 (27)— Jesus gives His people a peace unlike the world's peace.Isaiah 62 (6-7)— Watchmen remind the Lord of His promises and seek their fulfillment.Ezekiel 3 (17)— God appoints a watchman to hear His Word and speak it.I Corinthians 14 (3)— Prophecy strengthens, encourages, and comforts others.I Peter 4 (10-11)— Those who speak should do so as people expressing the words of God.Romans 8 (19-22)— Creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God.Ephesians 1 (22-23)— The Church is Christ's Body, filled with His presence.John 8 (31-32)— Truth brings freedom to those who receive and continue in it. Takeaway Spend time in God's presence until His Word becomes living and settled within you. Then speak it with faith, peace, and humility—whether through Scripture, prayer, encouragement, or ordinary conversation. You may not immediately see the results, but God remains responsible for bringing His Word to fulfillment.

Lions on the Streets Rev. Austin Gilliland Prov. 22:13, John 16:33, I Sam. 17:36-37, I Peter 5:8

Subject: I PeterSpeaker or Performer: Randy McLendonScripture Passage(s): I Peter 5:12-14Date of Delivery: August 30, 2026

ALL IN Pt. 1 |  AUGUST 23, 2026Pastor Wes MorrisExodus 3:10–12 (NLT) “Now go, for I am sending you to Pharaoh. You must lead my people Israel out of Egypt.” But Moses protested to God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?”God answered, “I will be with you. And this is your sign that I am the one who has sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God at this very mountain.”4:1 But Moses protested again, “What if they won't believe me or listen to me? What if they say, ‘The Lord never appeared to you'?” Then the Lord asked him, “What is that in your hand?” “A shepherd's staff,” Moses replied.“Throw it down on the ground,” the Lord told him. So Moses threw down the staff, and it turned into a snake! Moses jumped back. Then the Lord told him, “Reach out and grab its tail.” So Moses reached out and grabbed it, and it turned back into a shepherd's staff in his hand.“Perform this sign,” the Lord told him. “Then they will believe that the Lord, the God of their ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—really has appeared to you.”√  WHAT GOD HAS GIVEN ME WAS NEVER JUST FOR ME.I Peter 4:10 (NLT) God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.√  WHAT'S IN MY HAND DOESN'T BECOME USEFUL UNTIL I RELEASE IT.John 6:8–9 (NLT) Here is a young boy with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?God can do more with what I release than I can ever do with what I keep.√  WHAT SEEMS ORDINARY TO ME CAN BECOME EXTRAORDINARY WITH GOD.II Corinthians 4:7 (NLT) We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.WHAT'S IN YOUR HAND?I. STOP DISQUALIFYING YOURSELF.Exodus 4:10-12 (NLT) But Moses pleaded with the Lord, “O Lord, I'm not very good with words. I never have been, and I'm not now, even though you have spoken to me. I get tongue-tied, and my words get tangled.”Then the Lord asked Moses, “Who makes a person's mouth? Who decides whether people speak or do not speak, hear or do not hear, see or do not see? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go! I will be with you as you speak, and I will instruct you in what to say.”II Corinthians 12:9 (NLT) Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.”II. START WITH WHAT GOD HAS ALREADY GIVEN YOU.Exodus 4:2 (NLT) “What is that in your hand?”Zechariah 4:10 (NLT) Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin...III. JUST SAY YES.Romans 6:13 Give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. You want to be tools in the hands of God, to be used for his good purposes.

Today on the podcast I'm sharing about a very cool experience I had on a run recently. A injury started to flare up with pain in my side as I ran. But praise God someone years ago told me about Isaiah 53 and how by His wounds, I am healed! What Jesus went through on the cross for you is soooo important for you to recognize and therefore walk in victory over sickness and injury!Matthew 8:17 NKJV “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses” and I Peter 2:24 KJV “Who his own self bore our sins in his own body on the tree.”I share today:What I intentionally thought about to get the pain to leaveA story in the Bible where God instructed people to do the very same thing for their hurting bodiesWhy Jesus never put sickness on people in the New Testament, but rather took it awayLadonna Osborn teaching mentioned: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WvRnny4HSg⁠Connect with Nyla:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nyla's IG ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nyla's website⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Nyla's Christian business podcast On the Job with God⁠⁠

Reading: John 8:31-584 Questions from Genesis 3:(1) Who is this serpent?(2) Where did he come from?(3) Why is he in the garden?(4) What is he up to since then?Demonology & Deity of Christ:1. Jesus REMOVED DEMONS 2. Jesus SILENCED DEMONS - 3. Jesus TORMENTS DEMONS - 4. Jesus SAW SATAN FALL - Luke 10:17-20 (not surprised by the disciples power over the enemy); Jer. 9:23-24 (humility in holy power)5. Jesus DISMISSES SATAN - Matthew 4:9-10 (after third temptation); Luke 4:136. Jesus REVEALS SATANIC INFLUENCE (to Peter) 7. Jesus DISARMED Satan on the cross - Col. 2:13-158. Paul REVEALS demonic strategy - II Corinthians 2:10-11; 11:12-15; Ephesians 6:10-189. Peter REVEALS demonic strategy - I Peter 5:1-11Context of shepherding - Psalm 23:1-6; Proverbs 27:23; Matthew 9:35-38Context of suffering Context of future glory - Context of oversight Context of setting example -Context of future rewards -   = Call to submitting  = Call to humility   = Call to trusting (worry)  = Call to sober-mindedness   = Call to watchfulness   = Call to awareness - devouring   = Call to resist - like James 4:7  = Call to firmness of faith + The Promise of restoration + The Promise of confirmation + The Promise of strength + The Promise of being est   > The Focus is on God - v. 1110. James REVEALS demonic faith 2:19 and victory in spiral warfare - James 4:7   

Subject: I PeterSpeaker or Performer: Randy McLendonScripture Passage(s): I Peter 5:8-11Date of Delivery: August 23, 2026

Subject: I PeterSpeaker or Performer: Randy McLendonScripture Passage(s): I Peter 5:8-11Date of Delivery: August 23, 2026

Demonology & Deity of Christ (They actually go together - “I saw Satan fall”) There is unbridled arrogance and enormous egos when beings created by God are given incredible authority. Lucifer is the poster child of rebellion against God, but a few have followed his steps in their massive pride. Pride goes before the fall! Two kings and one common pattern: • Isaiah 14 - The king of Babylon • Ezekiel 28 - The king of Tyre (Isaiah 51:3; Ezekiel 31:8-9; 36:35) Demonology & The Deity of Christ: 1. Jesus REMOVED DEMONS - Mark 9:25-27 2. Jesus SILENCED DEMONS - Mark 1:21-28; Luke 4:38-41 3. Jesus TORMENTS DEMONS - Luke 8:26-39 4. Jesus SAW SATAN FALL - Luke 10:17-20 (not surprised by the disciples' power over the enemy) 5. Jesus DISMISSES SATAN - Matthew 4:9-10 (after third temptation); Luke 4:13 6. Jesus REVEALS SATANIC INFLUENCE (to Peter) - Matthew 16:21-23 7. Jesus DISARMED Satan on the cross - Colossians 2:13-15 8. Paul reveals demonic strategy - II Corinthians 2:10-11; 4:2-6; 11:1-15 9. Peter reveals demonic strategy - I Peter 5:8 10. James reveals victory in spiritual warfare - James 4:7 * Scripture reveals the application - What do we do knowing about the dangerous and deceptive enemy? - Ephesians 6:10-20

Continuing with our series “Cutting Thru The Noise”, today Pastor Chase teaches on “The Vanishing Line”. How do we find the Holiness that Paul is challenging the church at Corinth to have, and the Holiness God wants from us? We have to STOP walking so close to the Line between a life in God through his SPIRIT and a life living for ourselves in this world. I need to realize that I can't do it on my own and cry out to God for his Spirit to live within me.Key Scriptures:I Corinthians 6:9-12, Romans 8:38-39,12:2,14:13, I Corinthians 5:6-8,6:12,18,10:23,31, II Timothy 1:7,2:22, I Peter 5:8-9, Ephesians 6:10-11,3:16-21, Matthew 6:19, Luke 11:28, James 1:21-25, I John 2:6,15-17,19-20,4:4, Hebrews 12:1, Colossians 4:5, Zechariah 4:6, Galatians 5:16, Philippians 4:13, Deuteronomy 31:6

Subject: I PeterSpeaker or Performer: Randy McLendonScripture Passage(s): I Peter 5:6-7Date of Delivery: August 16, 2026

Review: Resist & Repent - James 4:7 = Two of the most important questions ever asked are answered in the first three chapters of Genesis: (1) How did we get here? 2) What went wrong? In my job; In my job; In my home; In my world Our struggle is not against flesh and blood - Ephesians 6:20-18; God's law demands justice be paid! The Cross; The Law - Romans 8:1-2God speaks in Genesis - Gen 1, 2, 3, 4 - God speaks in Bible - His mouth; His voice; His words God has already spoken to create; then to Adam and to Eve. He will today speak to the serpent. God speaks to Cain - to Noah, to Babel, to Abraham, to Moses Hebrews 1:1-2! God's final word was/is Jesus! No more words needed; No more prophecy given; I. The Consequences of the Curse To the serpent - vv. 14-15 Cursed above all - Eat dust from now on - God declares war - “enmity”; Ephesians 6:10-18; I Peter 5:8; II Corinthians 2:5-11 God reveals the Savior's birth God reveals a battle - God declares victory -

Subject: I PeterSpeaker or Performer: Randy McLendonScripture Passage(s): I Peter 5:1-5Date of Delivery: August 2, 2026

Hope. We can never hear enough about NOT losing it. How about you? We hope to give you revelation about hope not just more information. HOPE is not a "feeling." Feelings are fickle and they change with your circumstances. Hope is a "knowing" that gives you reason to keep going regardless of what you may not see! I Peter 3:6-7

Subject: I PeterSpeaker or Performer: Randy McLendonScripture Passage(s): I Peter 4:12-19Date of Delivery: July 26, 2026

The Compassion and Empathy of Jesus in You • Friday Service Website: www.PastorTodd.org To support this ministry: www.ToddCoconato.com/give The LORD is gracious and full of compassion, Slow to anger and great in mercy. Psalms 145:8 (NKJV) The LORD is good to all, And His tender mercies are over all His works. Psalms 145:9 (NKJV) And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. Matthew 14:14 (NKJV) Now a leper came to Him, imploring Him, kneeling down to Him and saying to Him, “If You are willing, You can make me clean.” Mark 1:40 (NKJV) Then Jesus, moved with compassion, stretched out His hand and touched him, and said to him, “I am willing; be cleansed.” Mark 1:41 (NKJV) “Thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Execute true justice, Show mercy and compassion Everyone to his brother. Zechariah 7:9 (NKJV) Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, The alien or the poor. Let none of you plan evil in his heart Against his brother.' Zechariah 7:10 (NKJV) Now it happened, the day after, that He went into a city called Nain; and many of His disciples went with Him, and a large crowd. Luke 7:11 (NKJV) And when He came near the gate of the city, behold, a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother; and she was a widow. And a large crowd from the city was with her. Luke 7:12 (NKJV) When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” Luke 7:13 (NKJV) Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” Luke 7:14 (NKJV) So he who was dead sat up and began to speak. And He presented him to his mother. Luke 7:15 (NKJV) Then fear came upon all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has risen up among us”; and, “God has visited His people.” Luke 7:16 (NKJV) And this report about Him went throughout all Judea and all the surrounding region. Luke 7:17 (NKJV) Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; Colossians 3:12 (NKJV) And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV) Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. Galatians 6:2 (NKJV) Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; I Peter 3:8 (NKJV)

I Peter 2:21-25

Live and let live doesn't mean we condone someone else's choices. It tells us that everyone has the right to choose. Can you choose to show acceptance of others rooted in God's love in spite of their choices? Inspired by I Peter 4:8 and Romans 14:1-4

Because of the responsibility to important things in life like your marriage, family, job, or even drama have you always had trouble staying focused and even feeling guilty for wanting to pursue your gifts and calling? If God's plan for YOUR life is important then we have some suggestions as to why you remaining focused on it may be such a challenge and what you can do about it. Inspired by I Peter 4:10

In a biblical context, to be anointed is to be blessed, set apart for God's service, and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Throughout Scripture, prophets, priests, and kings were literally anointed with oil as a visible sign that God had chosen and commissioned them for His purposes. Today, however, the biblical understanding of the anointing is in danger of being diminished or misunderstood. What Scripture presents as God's empowering presence and divine calling is sometimes reduced to a mere emotional experience, a title, or a religious expression. The anointing is far more than symbolism—it is God's enabling power to accomplish His will. Some key biblical examples include: Kings: Saul and David were anointed by the prophet Samuel (1 Samuel 10:1; 16:13). Priests: Aaron and his sons were anointed for priestly service (Exodus 28:41; 30:30). Prophets: Elijah was instructed to anoint Elisha as his successor (1 Kings 19:16). Jesus: Jesus is called the Messiah (Hebrew) and the Christ (Greek), both of which mean "the Anointed One." He was anointed by the Holy Spirit for His ministry (Luke 4:18; Acts 10:38). Extra scriptures: Exodus 30:22-23, 40:9-16 Leviticus 8:1-2, 6-9, 12, 30, 10:8-10 Is. 61:1, Luke 4:18, 21 Ez. 36:25-37 John 14:12 Romans 15:19 Gal. 3:5 II Cor. 1:21-22 I Cor. 12:4-7 I Peter 2:9 I John 2:27 Interested in a Bible study?  We would love to hear from you!  Contact us at:  lifeinspiredproductions@gmail.com Find us on Apple iTunes, Spotify, Pandora Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/EnrichedP Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/enriched_perspectives/  

BECAUSE OF THE CROSS  |  JULY 5, 2026Pastor Wes Morris I Corinthians 11:23-26 (TLB) For this is what the Lord himself has said about his Table, and I have passed it on to you before: That on the night when Judas betrayed him, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks to God for it, he broke it and gave it to his disciples and said, “Take this and eat it. This is my body, which is broken for you. Do this to remember me.”In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new agreement between God and you that has been established and set in motion by my blood. Do this in remembrance of me whenever you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are retelling the message of the Lord's death, that he has died for you. Do this until he comes again.Communion is more than remembering Jesus' death; it is celebrating the victory that changed everything.THE QUESTIONS WE ALL CARRYCan I be free from my past?Does my life really matter?Is there hope for my future?BECAUSE OF THE CROSS√ MY PAST IS FORGIVEN.Colossians 2:13-14 (NLT) You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.Romans 7:21-8:1 (NLT) I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.8:1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. √ MY IDENTITY IS SECURE.Romans 8:15-17 (NLT) So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God's Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God's children. And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God's glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.√  MY FUTURE IS FILLED WITH HOPE.I Peter 1:3 (TLB) All honor to God, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; for it is his boundless mercy that has given us the privilege of being born again so that we are now members of God's own family. Now we live in the hope of eternal life because Christ rose again from the dead.

Summer at Bay Chapel |  JULY 12, 2026Pastor Wes Morris I Peter 2:9 (NIV) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.God didn't just save you from something. He called you for something.√  WE REDUCE OUR FAITH TO WHAT GOD DOES FOR US. Luke 17:12-19 (NIV) As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance and called out in a loud voice, “Jesus, Master, have pity on us!”When he saw them, he said, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were cleansed.One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Has no one returned to give praise to God except this foreigner?” Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you well.”√  WE FEEL UNWORTHY OF THE CALLING.I Timothy 1:15-16 (NLT) This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all. But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. √  WE WAIT FOR BIG MOMENTS AND MISS THE DAILY OPPORTUNITIES.1 Samuel 17:17–18 (NLT) One day Jesse said to David, “Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain...”God-sized miracles often start with simple acts of obedience.MADE FOR MOREI. LET GOD REDEFINE WHO YOU ARE.I Peter 2:9 (NIV) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession... II. SHIFT THE QUESTION FROM “WHAT DO I NEED?” TO “WHY AM I HERE?”I Peter 2:9 (NIV) But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises...III. LET YOUR LIFE POINT PEOPLE TO JESUS.I Peter 2:12 (NLT) Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your good deeds, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.Matthew 5:14-16 (TLB) You are the world's light—a city on a hill, glowing in the night for all to see. Don't hide your light! Let it shine for all; let your good deeds glow for all to see, so that they will praise your heavenly Father.

I Peter 2:18-20

Subject: I PeterSpeaker or Performer: Randy McLendonScripture Passage(s): I Peter 4:7-11Date of Delivery: July 5, 2026

I Peter ch 1 vs 3-25 - Rev Joe Crowe - Sunday, July 5, 2026

I Peter ch 1 vs 3-25 - Rev Joe Crowe - Sunday, July 5, 2026

I Peter ch 1 vs 3-25 - Rev Joe Crowe - Sunday, July 5, 2026

I Peter 2:11-12

Subject: I PeterSpeaker or Performer: Randy McLendonScripture Passage(s): I Peter 3:18-22Date of Delivery: June 21, 2026

16:18 O earth, do not cover my blood- The earth is sometimes called to witness men's sins (Deut. 30:15-20; Isa. 1:2; Micah 6:1-2) but here Job calls upon it to testify of His innocence. Job's longs for the earth not to cover his blood. The phrase cover his blood also appears in Gen. 37:26; Isa. 26:21. In Gen. 4:10 the voice of Abel's blood cried out from the ground. Blood represented life itself (Lev. 17:11), and it is precious. Even an animal's blood was to be covered with the ground (Lev. 17:13; Ezek. 24:7-8). Because life and blood were so precious, taking life demanded one's life be taken (Gen. 9:5-6; Num. 35:29-34). And let there be no resting place for my cry- The law of Moses made provision for an avenger of blood who executed the killer of his near kin (Num. 35:9-34). If the avenger failed to act, God was expected to act. Job begs that his cry find no resting place until he was avenged. 16:19 Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven,- While Job's appearance served as a witness against him in vs. 8, he is confident of a witness in heaven (vs.19). The witness is more than just a man. He is in heaven.But who is this witness, this advocate? Some argue that the witness is God Himself.[1] In this context, the witness seems like a 3rd party who will plead his case before God (vs. 21). And my advocate is on high- The word translated advocate is only used here.  16:20 My friends are my scoffers;- There is question about the translation of key words. The word translated friends is used of Job's friends in 2:11; 32:3; 42:10.The NET translates this phrase “My intercessor is my friend.” This word translated intercessor can carry the idea of scoffer (Ps. 1:1; Prov.1:22; 3:34; 9:7, 8, 12; 13:1; 14:6) or it can speak of a translator or an interpreter (Gen. 42:23; II Chron. 32:31; Job 33:23; Isa. 43:27).[1] [1] Newsome, 460-461, does not believe these words variously translated are from the same Hebrew word but that they are different words. Clines, 371, agrees and has some good notes about the translation. Jesus and Job 16:15-2216:16, 20 Job's face is flushed with weeping. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus (John 11:35), at the triumphal entry to the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19:41-44), and at Gethsemane (Heb. 5:7). Jesus offered strong crying and tears to the One able to save Him.  16:17 Job was innocence and there was no violence in his hand. Jesus was completely innocent and there was no violence in His mouth on a much greater level than Job (Isa. 53:9; I Peter 2:22).  16:18 Job begs that the earth not cover his blood. While the blood of Abel cries out for vengeance, the blood of Jesus cries out for mercy (Gen. 4:10; Heb. 12:24). 16:21 Compare this to Job 9:32-33; 19:25; 33:23-24. Job is not prophesying of Jesus in the sense of stating what He will do. Job is expressing a longing, a desire for One who will do what Jesus accomplishes. Jesus actually goes far beyond what Job desired. Job's sins, however small, had made him God's enemy (Rom. 5:6-10). All the things Job experienced, and more were endured by Jesus on the cross to bring those who were His enemies back to Him. 

THE DEVIL NEVER QUITS.  As Catholics, we believe that God has prepared a place for us with Jesus in Heaven if we do His will on earth. We also believe that Satan is real and is relentless in his desire to defeat every one of us. That's why we must heed the words of St. Peter, who said, "Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent, the devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour" (I Peter 5:8). Join the conversation: anycatholicconversation@gmail.com 

By Jerold Aust - In a continuing series of Tuesday night on-line Zoom Bible Studies, former Pastor and educator Jerold Aust, covers the fascinating scriptures and provides commentary on the Book of I Peter, chapter 4. [Note - These studies are presented via Zoom. To access the study on Tuesday evenings you may

By Jerold Aust - In a continuing series of Tuesday night on-line Zoom Bible Studies, former Pastor and educator Jerold Aust, covers the fascinating scriptures and provides commentary on the Book of I Peter, chapter 3. [Note - These studies are presented via Zoom. To access the study on Tuesday evenings you may

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/daily-devotions/20260502dev.mp3 Listen to Devotion For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. I Peter 2:25 Return to the Shepherd From time to time, the Bible calls us “sheep.” That isn”t very flattering, is it? If a wolf is bearing down, how could a single sheep protect itself? The score every time is: Wolf 1, Sheep 0. If there is a drought, where would the sheep find decent water and grass? And the very worst? If a sheep goes astray into real but invisible danger, they have no way of escaping it. How incriminating it is to hear the apostle Peter tell us, “you were like sheep going astray.” Perhaps you thought you could handle a little temptation on the computer. Or you thought you could get drunk just once and then get behind the wheel. Or, you thought you deserved the right to stay angry at so-and-so. The danger became oh-so-real, oh-so-fast. It’s time to return to the Shepherd. No more excuses. No more wandering. No more thinking that you can stare temptation in the eye and handle it alone. No more thinking that you can solve all your problems. No more being deceived into thinking that you’re in control when you are not. Return to the Shepherd! Let him be your Overseer. Let his promises guide your way. Listen to him as he tells you, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). There you are safe for eternity. Prayer: Dear Shepherd, I don’t want to wander from you. Please watch over me that I might never go astray and be safe under your promises. Amen. Daily Devotions is brought to you by WELS. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. ™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide.