Proper Conduct Before Unbelieving World

Introduction: The Apostolic Mindset of Doctrine and Application

0:03 Now let us turn together to 1 Peter, 1 Peter and chapter 2, and follow as I read in your hearing verses 11 and 12 of this chapter.

0:26 Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles, that wherein they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works which they behold glorify God in the day of visitation. It has been said that Jonathan Edwards, the brilliant yet godly and useful New England preacher and theologian. Of his preaching it was said that his doctrine was all application, and his application was all doctrine. Now the person who wrote those words understood that as Edwards preached, every doctrine that he saw taught in the word of God, he understood had a very relevant relationship to the life of the people of God. So he did not teach doctrine in abstraction. But having established the doctrine from the word of God, sought to demonstrate its relevance for the life and experience of the people of God.

1:52 And likewise, when he was bringing what we would call practical instruction, applicatory dimensions of God's truth, he constantly traced that very practical teaching back to its doctrinal roots in the word of God. And so it could be said of him that, All of his doctrine was application, and all of his application was doctrine. And to the extent that that was true of Edwards, he was reflecting the apostolic mindset. For when we pick up the letters of the New Testament, written to the infant churches, and in some cases to individuals who were strategically placed in those churches as the servants of God, I'm thinking of the pastoral epistles and the epistle to Philemon, we find indeed that the letters of the New Testament were written to the infant churches, and in the pastoral epistles, we find indeed that all of the doctrine is indeed applicatory, and that all of the application has its roots in the doctrine. You were reminded of that in the previous hour. One of the grandest passages on the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, Philippians 2, verses 5 to 10, is introduced not as a doctrinal abstraction, but Paul is concerned that the Philippians walk in hymnals. humility so that they might maintain unity.

3:15 And it's in conjunction with that deep, practical, pastoral burden that he says, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. And then we are confronted with that breathtaking doctrinal passage, which is set forward in order to help the people of God to attain unity in a climate of humility. And we have seen in our studies of 1 Peter that Peter is of the same apostolic mindset. When he takes us up into the heights of what we would call high doctrine, it is that he might be laying the foundation for some of the most practical exhortations to be found anywhere in the Word of God.

4:00 And in the unfolding of this epistle, we come this morning to verses 11 and 12, in which we are told, We are introduced to the second major section in the letter. Having set out our great salvation in chapter 1, verses 3 to 12, then we looked at a series of exhortations in view of that great salvation. And then in chapter 2, verses 4 through 10, we have another wonderful statement of the identity and privileges of the people of God, particularly in their corporate identity. Having then laid out these marvelous privileges and the wonderful identity of God's people, Peter now begins again to give intensely practical directives to the people of God. And here in verses 11 and 12, we have what is in reality sort of a preamble and an introduction to this next major section that goes all the way down through chapter 3 and verse 12. And I'm going to entitle these verses a powerful appeal to proper conduct before an unbelieving world.

The Manner of Peter's Appeal: Affectionate and Urgent

5:18 In this introductory section to this entire new section in the epistle, we have this powerful appeal to proper conduct before an unbelieving world. Now as we attempt to understand what Peter is writing, I want you to note with me first of all the manner of this, in what manner does Peter make this appeal? Well, his manner is couched in the words, Beloved, I beseech you. And in those words, his manner is very clearly revealed as, first of all, unashamedly affectionate, and then secondly, graciously urgent.

6:03 It is first of all unashamedly affectionate. The word, translated in most of our Bibles, Beloved, is a word that you would not have found used too frequently in the secular world of Peter's day. It is a word, though, that had become very precious within the Christian community. All nine usages of it, as recorded in the Gospels, have reference to the Lord Jesus as Beloved of the Father.

6:36 You remember at his baptism, the voice spoke out of heaven, And this is my Son, my Beloved One. Or, this is my Beloved Son. Again, on the Mount of Transfiguration, the same words. In a very unique way, Christ is the Beloved One of the Father.

6:58 And when we come into the New Testament epistles, we find that it becomes one of the favorite terms used as the apostles communicate to these infant communists, the people of God, scattered throughout the Roman Empire. There are at least two dozen plus usages of this word, Beloved, from the pen of the Apostle Paul. And in the general epistles, we find, again, more than two dozen usages of this term, Beloved. It became, as I say, a very frequently used term by which to address the people of God, as the ones who are Beloved.

7:42 And so Peter, as he is about to introduce a new section in his epistle, in which he is going to call the people of God to many facets of practical Christian obedience, he addresses them in this unashamedly affectionate manner, perhaps the best rendering in contemporary English would be, dearly loved ones. Intensely loved. Loved ones. And if you ask the question, loved by whom?

8:14 Well, obviously loved by Peter. But loved by Peter only because they first of all have been loved by God himself. And having been accepted in the Beloved One, to whom God spoke saying, this is my Son, my Beloved, as John tells us again and again, everyone who loves the Begetter, loves the One Begotten, of Him. And Peter has known something of that work that he described in the first chapter concerning these believers in Asia Minor, verse 22, seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently. Peter was not calling them to something that he himself was not experiencing. And so he addresses them and the manner of his appeal is unashamedly affectionate, but it's also graciously urgent. Peter could have said, Beloved, I command you.

9:25 And there are times when in the epistles you have words used that mean a commandment. You have such words that underscore that the apostle who is writing the letter is conscious of his authority, that the apostle who is writing the letter is conscious of his authority, that the apostle who is writing the letter is conscious of his authority, that the apostle who is writing the letter is conscious of his authority under Christ, and is giving marching orders to the people of God. For example, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 3, in verse 6, I command you, brethren. And they are not beneath using the word command.

9:54 And Peter could have used the word, but he doesn't use a word that focuses upon commandment, but he uses the word that has such a breadth of usage in the New Testament, that in its root meaning means, one called alongside. And called alongside to do many things. And here's where the breadth of its usage comes in the New Testament. Sometimes to admonish, sometimes to comfort, sometimes to instruct.

10:24 And here the nuance, no doubt, is, Peter is saying, I urge you, I appeal to you. I appeal to you as one who loves you. You are dearly loved to me, and loved to me because you are loved in Christ. And believing that that motivation, of the love of God shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Spirit, is a compelling motivation, reminding you that you are loved by me, and by me because you are loved by the living God himself, I appeal to you.

11:01 I am urging you. I am strongly entreating you. And surely, in this address, that is unashamedly affectionate and graciously urgent, Peter has set for us a good example. Any of us who are in any position where we must exercise legitimate direction and guidance towards others, whether as parents to our children, whether as employer to employee, whether in some other relationship in the state, in the church, we likewise, in the exercise, of legitimate spheres of authority and guidance for others, we should be unashamed in expressing our affection where that affection is present. Now there are some relationships where that affection would not be the unique affection that is within the Christian community, and it would be hypocritical to use such terms. But wherever possible, we ought to do as Peter has done. He doesn't simply say, I command you.

12:08 He says, Beloved, I beseech you. And as it were, bends his knee and entreats them to receive what he gives them as an apostle of Jesus Christ, the very way in which he identified himself in the opening words of the letter. But now having looked briefly at the manner of his appeal, come with me and here's where we'll spend the bulk of our time, looking at the matter, or the substance, of his appeal. What is his appeal?

The Substance of the Appeal: Reminder of True Identity

12:41 And there are three things in the matter or the substance of his appeal. First of all, he begins with a reminder of their true identity. A reminder of their true identity. Beloved, I appeal to you.

13:00 I beseech you. I urge you as sojourners and pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lust. Now, you see, the burden of what he's going to say is his urging them to abstain from fleshly lust. And he could have gone directly from that present tense use of the verb, I am appealing, and he doesn't even use the pronoun you, I'm appealing to abstain from fleshly lust.

13:30 But he doesn't. He introduces these words, I am appealing, as sojourners, and pilgrims, to abstain. And what is he doing? Well, what he is doing in the substance of his appeal is giving them a fresh reminder of their true identity.

13:52 For it has great implications with respect to the issues that he's about to set before them. And when he addresses them as sojourners and pilgrims, he is using terms he has already used. In this letter, you remember in chapter 1 and verse 1, Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ to the elect, who are sojourners. That's the second word here in verse 11 of chapter 2.

14:21 He has already used it. And the same root word as the first one is found in verse 17 of chapter 1. If you call on him, his Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man's work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear. So he has already identified them as strangers, as sojourners, as sojourners and those on pilgrimage.

14:49 But lest they have forgotten that specific element of their true identity, he now brings it forward again on the threshold of unburdening his heart with respect to the central concern, and says in essence, now, in terms of what I'm going to do, what I'm going to appeal to you about, remember, I'm appealing to you conscious of your identity as sojourners and pilgrims. And I want you, in receiving my appeal, to think of yourselves in terms of who and what you are as pilgrims and sojourners. Now these two words briefly, some of you perhaps will remember when we went through them in the other context, they're difficult to translate. They are basically synonyms with a little different shade of meaning. And the first one refers to the person dwelling alongside the citizens in a given community. He has pitched his tent or built his house alongside the citizens of that particular country, but he himself is not a citizen of that country.

16:04 He doesn't have all the rights and the protections of the citizens. He has sworn no allegiance to the government of that particular country. He is a foreigner. Perhaps the best contemporary terms would be a foreign neighbor.

16:23 You have a neighbor living next to you, but he's a foreigner. He carries a passport from another country. He is not a US citizen. He thinks of himself in terms of the customs, the laws, and the language of the country from which he came.

16:40 His heart is still there. His thoughts are there. All of his relatives are there. But he's dwelling alongside of you as a resident alien.

16:50 He is a foreign neighbor. And the next word points more to one being a temporary resident. When the word pilgrim is used, that brings up all kinds of images of big black hats and knickers, and the rest. But that's not in here at all.

17:08 The picture is of someone whose dwelling is not permanent in the place in which he presently is. His heart is towards his homeland. His permanent dwelling is not that which he presently has. Now it's interesting that this combination of terms in the Greek translation of the Old Testament is found in two places.

17:33 And I think they will help us to see that they are indeed basically synonyms. In Genesis chapter 23 and in verse 4. Genesis chapter 23 and verse 4. After the death of Sarah, we read in verse 3 of Genesis 23, Abraham rose up from before his dead and spoke unto the children of Heth, saying, I am a stranger and a sojourner with you.

18:10 Give me a possession of a burying place with you, that I may bury my dead out of my sight. Abraham was among the people of Heth. But he clearly understood that that was not the place of his permanent dwelling. That was not the place where his heart and his affections were.

18:31 His body was there. Yes, in the providence of God, he was there. But he said, I am here as a stranger and a sojourner. I have no intention of making this.

18:41 My permanent home. I'm not one of you now. And I don't intend to be one of you in the future. And then in Psalm 39 and verse 12, we find the same combination of words.

18:54 Psalm 39 and verse 12. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry. Hold not your peace at my tears, for I am a stranger with you, a sojourner, as all my fathers were. Now in the light of what you recently learned about Hebrew parallelism, do you see how these are basically synonymous terms?

19:23 The second term helping to buttress and reinforce the first. I am a stranger with you, a sojourner, as all my fathers were. So by the two words placed here, Peter is reminding his readers of the basic truth. Of the foreignness of believers in this present world.

19:48 By bringing the two terms forward and saying, Beloved, I am urging you, I am appealing to you, I am entreating you, I am exhorting you, as strangers and pilgrims. As sojourners and pilgrims. As foreign neighbors. As temporary residents.

20:13 Remember, Remember what your true identity is. Remember where your true loyalties lie. Remember where your true citizenship is. As Paul said, Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence we wait for a Savior, even the Lord Jesus.

20:32 And Peter recognizes that what he is about to say will have grit and power over their consciences in direct proportion to their present realization of who and what they really are in this present state. Yes, they are there in those five Roman provinces of Asia Minor, now the land or the country of Turkey. But as he writes to them, he says, Remember who you are, because I am about to lay before you directives and counsels and commands and perspectives that will have no meaning if you think of yourself as ordinary earth dwellers whose fundamental loyalties are to this world system and to its rulers and its standards and its goals. No, I write to you as heaven-born citizens, as those who live by the rule of your unseen King who is at the right hand of the Father. So in the matter or substance of his appeal, he begins by this reminder of their true identity. And then secondly, he proceeds to set before them a negative duty and then a positive duty.

The Substance of the Appeal: Negative Duty – Abstain from Fleshly Lusts

21:50 Look at the text. I beseech you as sojourners in pilgrims to abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. There's the negative duty. The positive duty, having your behavior seemly honorable among the Gentiles.

22:13 And that's the substance of his appeal. The negative duty and the positive duty. The negative duty. To abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul.

22:28 Now the word that Peter uses for abstain is a word that means total abstinence. It means to hold oneself away from something. It's the word used in Acts 15, 29 when the council at Jerusalem sent out its letter that the Gentiles should abstain from fornication, from things strangled and from blood. Now when they wrote to abstain from fornication, did they mean fornicate less?

23:01 Fornicate less frequently? Fornicate only occasionally? No. Abstaining meant to keep themselves away from sexual impurity in all of its forms at all times and in all circumstances.

23:15 That's the word that Peter uses here. In 1 Thessalonians 5, 22, Paul uses it when he says that the believers are to abstain from every form of evil. They are to hold themselves away from every form of evil. There's to be no internal compromise with sin.

23:36 Now what is it that they are to abstain from? Peter says, from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Now what does he mean by fleshly lusts? Does he mean that every appetite resident in our humanity, our appetite for food, for sex, for shelter, all of those appetites that are rooted in what we would say is the fleshy, corporeal part of what we are as body-soul entities?

24:09 No. The Bible nowhere teaches that the grace of God wars with legitimate God-given appetites. In fact, in a passage such as 1 Timothy 4, verses 1 to 5, the Apostle says that when anyone teaches that there are higher heights of spirituality to be gained by denying ourselves our legitimate bodily needs, it's a doctrine of demons. He speaks of those forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from meats.

24:42 He said they're under the influence of doctrines of demons. It is the work of the devil to destroy humanity. It is God's work in grace to restore humanity to what his original intention was. So when he says abstain from fleshly lusts, he is not speaking of abstaining from ordinary God-given appetites indulged according to the will and law of God, but he's speaking of those lusts that are fleshly.

25:15 That is, they are carnal. They are lusts and passions and appetites that we are prepared to indulge at the expense of obedience to God's law. Things that God himself has declared as illicit and out of bounds, or things that may not be out of bounds in themselves, but the degree to which we indulge them constitutes them of fleshly lusts. Or, their attachment to them becomes a form of idolatry.

25:49 Terminology similar to this is used in many parts of the Scriptures. In 2 Peter 2.18, Peter uses a similar terminology. Not exactly the same, but he speaks of those that entice in the lusts of the flesh.

26:06 And again, in Ephesians 2.3, he speaks of those who are fulfilling the lusts or the desires of the flesh, and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. Perhaps already you've thought of Galatians 5.19-21.

26:23 The works of the flesh are manifest, which are these, adultery, fornication. And then he moves down into heart sins. These are the things that Peter is speaking about. And he says to these believers in this entreaty that he makes to them, remembering your true identity, my direction to you is, first of all, a negative command, to abstain, to hold yourself away from fleshly lusts, and perhaps most helpful to identify them is how he describes them in their activity.

26:59 Fleshly lusts which are warring against the soul. The peculiar characteristic of these fleshly lusts that Peter highlights is that they are such as are constantly warring against the soul. That is, they cripple it for vigor in prayer. They rob it of its realized communion with God.

27:28 They rivet the mind on things seen and tangible and make the world of unseen spiritual reality seem dim and distant and ephemeral. These are the fleshly lusts which are warring against the soul. One commentator has written, these desires attack the whole inner nature, the intellect, the affections, and the will, that immaterial part of our humanity which is the initial focus of God's saving work. Remember chapter 1 and verse 22.

28:03 He described their conversion in these terms, seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth. God's salvation takes in the body, yes. The culmination of our salvation will be that moment when Christ comes and we are given a glorified body with all the saints at His return. But the focus of God's initial gracious assault upon the soul, upon the human being, is the soul, the mind, the intellect, the will.

28:37 He enlightens us to see our true condition. He illuminates us to see that Christ is perfectly suited to our condition. By renewing our wills, He enables us to turn from sin in a resolute divorce of the soul from the dominion of sin. And we embrace Christ as the pearl of great price.

28:59 And now Peter says, you must hold yourself aloof from and keep distant from those fleshly lusts that will war against against your soul, your soul that has been purified in its obedience to the truth, that has known the sweetness of welcoming Christ as He is offered in the gospel, a prophet to teach us, a priest to forgive and intercede for us, and a king to rule over us. You must hold yourself aloof, keep yourself away from the fleshly lusts that are constantly warring in the present tense, constantly warring against the soul. As one has said, these lusts are not like a besieging army waiting for us to surrender. They don't pitch their tents around the wall of the soul and wait for us to cave in in some kind of war of attrition. No, they are constantly sending their troops to batter down the walls of the soul, to enter into the very citadel of the soul, and to capture that soul that once belonged to these lusts.

30:15 Peter is not ignorant of what these Christians have experienced. He has set forth their glorious salvation in the first chapter. He says, You've been begotten again unto a living hope, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, reserved in heaven for you. He goes on to speak at the end of the chapter of the fact they have purified their souls.

30:37 They've been begotten again. On into chapter 2 he identifies them as this elect race, this royal priesthood, this holy nation, a people of God's possession. Peter knows all the things they are and have in Christ, but Peter is a realist. Though they have in union with Christ died to sin's dominion, Peter is not so foolish as to think that sin has died with respect to them.

The Substance of the Appeal: Positive Duty – Honorable Behavior Among Gentiles

31:09 The fleshly lusts in their remaining corruption are still resident and active in them. And he says, As those whom God has constituted strangers and pilgrims, those whom God has made citizens of a better world, where all is holiness and light and obedience to God and love of God, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. And then he gives the positive duty, noted in the text, having your behavior seemly among the Gentiles. Perhaps a more clear rendering would be having your whole manner of life, having your entire lifestyle, that word that we've seen several times in Peter already, anastrophe, your whole lifestyle, the whole pattern of your life, having the whole lifestyle, the whole pattern of your life, honorable or praiseworthy or morally good. The word translated seemly in the old ASV, translated in other ways in other translations, is exactly the same word that is used later in the verse by your good works, by your morally good, honorable, praiseworthy works. So here's the positive duty. While seeking to abstain

32:36 and hold ourselves aloof from every fleshly lust which wars against the soul, we are on the positive side to be committed to a lifestyle in every facet of our external behavior that is honorable, that is praiseworthy, that is morally good, lived out amongst the Gentiles. That is, amongst those who do not know your God, amongst those who are still the citizens of this world, who are building their castles here, who are not strangers and sojourners. This world is their home. Its standards are those by which they live. But in the midst of them, you see, Peter doesn't envision a retreat. Abstain from fleshly lusts that war against the soul. Let's all go off into the mountains and form a Christian community.

33:32 No, that's not in Peter's mind at all. For he adds to that negative command, abstain from fleshly lusts. This positive direction that the entire corpus, the whole spectrum of your life live among the Gentiles is to be a lifestyle that is honorable, that is morally good, that is praiseworthy. And there is at least a subtle shift from the emphasis in the negative command to the deepest issues of the heart.

34:04 Abstaining from fleshly lusts is a matter of the heart as well as the external behavior. But here the focus is upon that which the Gentiles can observe. Having your behavior, your entire lifestyle, the whole spectrum of your life honorable, morally good among the Gentiles. So he sets before them this negative duty and this positive duty.

34:36 And what is here set forth in a pithy and succinct way in a very real sense is what Peter will open up in the following verses. What does it mean to live a life that is seemly, that is honorable, morally good and praiseworthy in the midst of Gentiles, in the midst of the unconverted world? Peter will answer and say it is to live a life in which a relationship as a citizen is praiseworthy. Subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake.

35:08 That will be the next paragraph. And then it means for servants in relationship to their masters in the providence of God. It means that you conduct yourself in such a way even when the masters are unreasonable that commends the gospel and reflects your identification with Christ your Savior. Verses 18 to 25.

35:29 And then he is going to say in the domestic sphere it means that wives will be submissive to their husbands, even unconverted husbands. And husbands will dwell with their wives according to knowledge. That's what it means to live a life that is honorable, a life that is praiseworthy, a life among the Gentiles that will validate that indeed you are citizens of another country. That you are on your way to a different destination.

The Goal and Motivation: Impact on the Ungodly

35:56 You march to the beat of a different drum. Peter here is giving in a nutshell what will open up and flower out in the subsequent portions of the letter. Well, we've looked at the manner of his appeal. It was unashamedly affectionate.

36:13 It was graciously urgent. We've looked at the matter or the substance of that appeal. And we have seen that it begins with a reminder of their true identity. And then we have the negative command to abstain, the positive command having honorable behavior among the Gentiles.

36:33 Now we come, thirdly, to the goal or motivation to comply with this appeal. Why does Peter lay this directive upon the people of God? Well, you'll notice in your Bibles the little word, that. And for you Greek students, we have a hina.

36:51 We have a section now that indicates purpose. In order that. This is why I'm telling you to do what I've told you to do in order that. Wherein, or in those words, wherein, or in those things in which they speak against you as evil doers, they may, by your good works which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

37:17 When Peter comes to deal with the goal or the motivation to comply with his appeal, it all focuses on the impact that such a life will have upon the non-Christian. The impact that such a life will have on the ungodly. And to open up this part of the verse, consider with me three things. What the ungodly are saying, what the ungodly are seeing, and what the ungodly may do.

37:44 What the ungodly are saying. Look at the text. Wherein they, that is the Gentiles, those who are not the people of God, those who do not embrace your Savior, the unconverted, the ungodly, wherein they are speaking against you as evil doers. They are speaking against you.

38:11 And they are speaking against you as though you were evil doers. Now the word evil doer can mean simply someone whose evil deeds are a pattern of life. But in some context, it's evil doing that warrants being dealt with by the criminal justice system as we would say in our day. In Matthew, I'm sorry, in John chapter 18 and verse 30, this is the word used with reference to our Lord.

38:42 He has been taken in to the praetorium. Pilate went out and said, what's the accusation you bring against him? John 18, 30. They answered and said to him, if this man were not, and here's our word, evil doer, we should not have delivered him up to you.

39:03 So what they are saying is that he has done evil, evil of such a nature as to warrant punishment. This is what they were saying about these Christians. That they were evil doers. One commentator has written, Peter knows that the opposition of the Gentiles would not be limited to gossip, to slander and fantastic lies.

39:31 This Christians will be accused in the courts, false charges, will be laid against them even to imprisonment and death. Peter had escaped the sword of Herod. Remember that in the book of Acts? But he could not escape the perverse hatred of Nero.

39:51 In a very short time after writing this letter and his second letter, Peter is martyred even as our Lord prophesied that when he was old he would be taken where he would not go. This spake he signifying by what death he should die. And in the secular writers of this book, in this period and over the next 100 years, it is clear that indeed this was the disposition of the unconverted and the ungodly. To speak against God's people as evil doers.

40:23 That's what the ungodly are saying. But now note what the ungodly are seeing. While they are saying these things, notice what they are seeing. That wherein they are speaking against you as evil doers, they may by your good works which they are beholding.

40:45 And the speaking against and the beholding are concurrent realities. And Peter uses an interesting word. Not the ordinary Greek word for looking or beholding. But it's used only here and then in chapter 3 with respect to the unconverted husband scrutinizing the lifestyle of his converted wife.

41:08 Verse 2. Beholding. There's our word. Beholding the chaste behavior coupled with fear.

41:16 So all the while they are attributing evil to these Christians. They are beholding. They are seeing by careful scrutiny what they really are and what they are really doing. And they know that their own words are manufactured.

41:35 That their charges have no real basis. They are contrived charges because all the while they speak against them as evil doers, they are actually seeing that they are not evil doers but good doers. They have indeed embraced the positive injunction to have their behavior honorable, morally good, and praiseworthy among these Gentiles. And they have been watching them.

42:02 And it's the very sting of their godly life that smarts their own conscience. And because men love darkness rather than light, rather than yield to the power of that godly example, they seek to speak against it and to put out that light even as they did with our Lord Jesus. So what the ungodly are saying, speak against them as evil doers. What are they seeing?

42:28 They are seeing that they are living a life reflective of the power of the gospel. They are beholding. They are beholding your good works. But then notice thirdly what the ungodly may do.

The Goal and Motivation: Glorifying God in a Day of Visitation

42:44 What the ungodly may do. And to give the idea of the sense of this verb, perhaps we can drop the may down further in the verse and say that whereas they speak against you as evil doers, they by your good works which they behold may glorify God in a day of visitation. Have a subjunctive. They may glorify God.

43:09 Not they shall, not a simple future, but they may glorify God in a day of visitation. Now what in the world does that mean? Well if you took your concordance and a little time this afternoon and looked up the word visitation and the little phrase day of visitation, you wouldn't be too long in your study before you discover that day of visitation refers to a coming of God in a special way either in judgment, or in mercy, in wrath, or in blessing. For example in Job 7.18 Job speaks of his calamities in terms of a visitation from God. Job 7 and verse 18. What is man that you should magnify him or you should set your mind upon him and that you should visit him every morning and try him every moment. How long will you not look away from him?

44:05 How long will you not look away from me or let me alone until I swallow down my spittle? Job is complaining about his horrific circumstances and he says, God how long will this go on? You visit him every morning. My afflictions come with the rising of the sun each day.

44:25 This was a visitation of God that was negative in its impact. Isaiah 10 and verse 3. Isaiah speaks of that same kind of visitation of God. Woe to those that decree unrighteous decrees and to the writers that write perverseness.

44:43 What will you do in the day of visitation and in the desolation which shall come from far? To whom will you flee for help and where will you leave your glory? Good question my unconverted friend. Whatever your refuge is today, where will you go when God visits in judgment?

45:03 Where will you go? To hide from the fury of his righteous anger. That's the question asked by the prophet. So God's visitation, a day of visitation can be God coming in judgment or in wrath.

45:19 But it can mean God coming in mercy. Just two examples. Genesis chapter 50. Genesis chapter 50 and verses 24 and 25.

45:33 Joseph said to his brethren, I die. But God will surely come and surely visit you and bring you up out of this land into the land which he swore to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. And Joseph took an oath of the children of Israel saying God will surely visit you. And here it was God's visitation in grace and mercy delivering his people out of the bondage in Egypt.

46:02 And when we turn to the New Testament it's interesting that the verb to visit and this word visitation as we have it in our text is always in terms of God visiting in mercy. You remember Jesus said in Luke 19 when he wailed over the city of Jerusalem that only you had known the things that belong to your peace. But now your house is left desolate. Why?

46:29 You knew not the time of your here's our word, visitation. When God incarnate was there in Palestine saying come unto me all you that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out. When mercy was present in the person of incarnate deity it was a time of God's visitation.

46:56 And Jesus said you knew not your time of visitation. And I personally am convinced that what Peter had in mind is a use of this word that was very very real to him in Acts chapter 15 when the people of God had gathered there in Jerusalem to discuss this burning question whether or not Gentiles had to be circumcised and keep the ceremonial law in order to be saved and the issue is debated and discussed and a resolution is made but in the midst of that notice verse 14 James is speaking and he says Simeon or Simon or Peter has rehearsed how God visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name and this is a direct reference to what happened in the household of Cornelius Peter is preaching the gospel and you remember the record says while he was speaking the Holy Spirit fell upon them and God sovereignly worked and brought that whole household of hearers to repentance and faith and to open confession of Christ and that's described as God visiting the Gentiles to take out of them a people for his name now coming back to first Peter as Peter is seeking to drive home

48:23 the motivation to the hearts of these believers why should I ever keep before me my identity as a stranger and a pilgrim, a sojourner a resident alien no permanent residence in this world why should I go on keeping myself aloof from fleshly lusts that constantly war against my soul why should I be meticulous in my concern to have my behavior honorable and good and praiseworthy among the Gentiles here's the motivation that whereas they speak against you as evil doers they may by your good works that they are beholding glorify God not in thee there is no article in the original glorify God in a day of visitation while the commentators differ my own judgment is that what Peter is saying is this that if God is pleased by the Holy Spirit to visit these very detractors the very ones who are beholding your lifestyle and they know it's different radically different from theirs that's why they're so adamant in speaking against you as evil doers your life exposes you it exposes the sham and the shallowness of their lives your meticulous obedience to the revealed will of God is a constant reminder that they have a carnal mind

49:50 that is enmity against God it is not subject to the law of God neither indeed can it be but if God is pleased to visit them in grace and mercy what will they do they will glorify God that they have seen in you the realities of what the gospel produces they will glorify God that having heard the gospel they didn't have to ask well what difference will the gospel make they will fall upon their faces as Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14 and acknowledge God is of a truth among you they will begin to magnify and glorify God as those who have embraced his offered salvation and have been privileged not only to hear the gospel but also to see its power and its influence in the lives of men most of the commentators suggest that Peter no doubt had in mind the words of the Lord Jesus from the Sermon on the Mount maybe you've thought of them as we've been looking at the text let your light so shine before men to what end that they may glorify your Father who is in heaven and how do they glorify the Father in heaven they glorify him when they stack arms when they repent when they believe the gospel when they take up the cross and they begin to follow the Lord Jesus and so Peter is laying upon

51:19 the consciences of these believers that your lifestyle makes a difference with respect to the progress and success of the gospel as non-resident sojourners as those who are passing through this world to the better world for which God has called you in Christ abstain from every fleshly lust that wars against your soul seek to have your behaviour honourable and praise worthy as you live out your life in the midst of the Geniton where down their accusations by your consistent life while the ungodly speak against you as evil doers they see your noble godly upright pattern of life of life, and in a day of visitation, they may yet glorify God, that they saw an embodiment of the gospel, that they not only heard gospel truth, but they saw the power of the gospel at work in human lives.

Application: No Dual Spiritual Citizenship

52:29 Now, I've sought to make application along the way, but as we conclude this morning, I do want to make just one or two more additional applications. And the first one is this, and it's clear from the passage, that no human being can hold dual citizenship in terms of spiritual realities.

52:54 So what are you talking about, dual citizenship, spiritual realities? Simply this, Peter isolates the believers here and calls them sojourners and pilgrims. They don't carry the passport of this world. Their passport has stamped on it, heaven.

53:16 They do not put down their roots in this world. They dwell alongside the worldly dwellers, yes. They dwell for a time among them. But their true identity and their citizenship is in another world.

53:29 Who are the rest? Just the Gentiles. Just the Gentiles. Just the pagan.

53:36 Just the person who is in no covenant relationship with God. You see, there are some countries that, if you are a Gentile, you can't hold dual citizenship in terms of spiritual realities. You can keep your passport and keep your identity as a citizen of one country and still be allowed to become a citizen of another. There is no dual citizenship in spiritual reality.

53:57 You will never become a citizen of heaven unless you're prepared to throw away your passport and lose your identity as a citizen of this world. You can't hold dual citizenship. And what is it that drives this world? The old writers like to say it's worship of the world's Trinity.

54:14 And you know what the world's Trinity is? It's not Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It's lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and pride of life. And John says, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.

54:28 If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the vain glory of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passes away, and the lust thereof. But he that doeth the will of God abides.

54:45 My friend, where's your citizenship if it's in this world? This world is marked for that final conflagration when the Lord Jesus comes in flaming fire to take vengeance on those that know not God and obey not the gospel. Why in the name of all rationality do you want to cling to that which is slated for the fire? And you with it.

55:15 My friend, retain your citizenship in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you with it. And you with it. And you with it.

55:23 This is my friend, plane in, this world, and you forfeit any citizenship in heaven. For Jesus said, No man can serve two masters. Well you've had enough of that for now. He will either love the one and hate the other, or hold to the one and despise the other.

55:33 You cannot serve God and mammon, the God of things and possessions. You want to be a Christian? You want to be a Christian? prepared to follow him, be attached to him, to make his ways and his people your ways and your people, and to acknowledge that I've got a new passport.

Application: Consistent Christian Life as the Most Powerful Evangelistic Tool

56:10 This world is not my home. I am just passing through. And the second point of application, dear people, is with all of the talk in our day about new schemes to commend the gospel and new methods to evangelize. And I am not despising our encouraging one another to be more zealous in seizing opportunities to communicate the gospel with a piece of literature, by word of mouth, by a tape, giving out little advertisements of a radio.

56:45 No, I'm not despising that. But at the end of the day, the most powerful evangelistic tool sits right here.

56:54 Sits right here. If we would see men glorify God in a day of visitation, it will be in the way that is here prescribed by Peter. When as the company of God's people, we take seriously our identity. And as sojourners and pilgrims, we do make conscience of abstaining from every fleshly lust that wars against the soul.

57:24 We're not so concerned to know the full reaches of our liberty and to indulge our liberties to the full. The question is, the question we will ask of any proposed action, relationship, desire, expenditure, whatever it is, will this war against the best interest of my soul, or will it nourish and strengthen my soul in relationship to God, to His Word, to His Son, to fellowship with Him? That will be the question we will ask. And we will be prepared by the grace of God and the power of the Spirit, to abstain from every fleshly lust which wars against the soul.

58:09 And we will be prepared to abstain from or to engage in any God-ordained practice which will help us to have our whole lifestyle noble and honorable among the Gentiles. Praying that God will use the impact of consistent, radically governed, Christian lives to be an instrument of the progress of the Gospel, even here in our own assembly. Let's pray together. Our Father, we do thank You for this portion of Your Word.

Prayer

58:54 We thank You for the Holy Spirit who enabled the Apostle to set out these directives to those believers in Asia Minor and for wonderfully preserving them that we might have them as a lamp unto our feet and a light to our pathway. And we pray that You would rivet Your Word to our memories and to our consciences and that You would help us to live in its light. Have mercy upon those who this morning still find themselves as part of the Gentiles, whose affections and loyalties are rooted in this present world that is slated for judgment. O God, be merciful.

59:40 Be merciful to them. And we pray that even today might be a day of visitation for them. Seal then Your Word to our hearts, we pray. In Jesus' name, amen.