1 Peter Sept 11, 2011

FOR NEXT WEEK: 1. We will look at the next section in 1 Peter: 1 Peter 1:3-12 2. Make observations just about Peter in these texts, don't worry about context, we are just looking at Peter here!: Mk 9:2-13; 14:32-42; and look at these together: Mt 26:69-75 and Jn 18:1-11 --we will look at some texts today to get an idea of what I am looking for Introduction to the class what will we be doing in this class until the end of Dec.? 1. We will look at all the text of 1 Peter, and other related text. 2. We will look at Peter, a biography of Peter through the NT. 3. We will be read John Piper's book, The Hidden Smile of God: the fruit of affliction in the lives of John Bunyan, William Cowper, and David Brainerd. What do you know about these guys? A. To answer the question, so what? B. Also gives us a good example of what a good biography is. I'll say more later about what I am addressing here. i. Will pass out this book in a few weeks. I'll get a better count of who is in class before I purchase them. ii. This book is available on John Piper's website Desiring God for free in PDF. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------TODAY: First we will look at few things about Peter, and then we will look at a little introductory material on 1 Peter, and then we will look at the first few verse of 1 Peter, and we need to make sure we have time to cover out application GOSPELS This is the Peter we love! ACTS This is Peter the powerful preacher 1 AND 2 PETER This is Peter the mature disciple

We will see as we go on that the Peter we love in the Gospels is not the same Peter in Acts, and certainly not the same Peter in 1 and 2 Peter! This is the growth we want to have as disciples of Jesus Christ. 1

Today, we will look a just a few things from Peter's life from the Gospels, not a complete biography. We will cover more of his life as time goes by. Two highly recommended biographies of Peter are: Simon Peter, Hugh Martin (Banner of Truth) From Simon to Peter, J. Glyn Owen (Evangelical Press) Ever read a Christian biography were the person is a 'Christian Superman'? For years I did not read biographies of any kind. I had read a few bad ones, so I decided to not waste my time. they are depressing certainly not helpful: they never have any fears, never falters or fails. The story is too sweet to swallow. I now read Christian biographies all the time. But why did I make that move? Well, I happened to read a good one, (can't remember which one) and I was reminded of these two verses: The Bible reminds us not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Hebrews 6:12); and to Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith (Hebrews 13:7). And John Piper reminded me, you cant imitate or be inspired by what we dont know. But we don't want a biography that is destructive either (the world produces too many of these already) What we want in a Christian biography, or what we are looking for is, for a person who demonstrates in a striking way the character changing grace of Christ.--that is why we are using Piper's book. Peter's biography as revealed in the Bible is a good one. Plus it is a Spirit-inspired biography---truthful, balanced and helpful. Peter's relationship with Jesus provides us with a memorable illustration of what real discipleship involves. No other disciple is mentioned so often, or has so much to say. No one confesses Christ so boldly or argues with him so persistently. Peter is commended more highly than the other disciples and apart from Judas, rebuked more strongly. Peter, in the Gospels is a jumble of contradictionsconfused and clear-sighted, exasperating and loveable, boastful and humble, cowardly and courageous. He comes across as a intensely human figure. That is why we generally like Peter in the Gospels---he is a lot like us. -----------------------------------------------------Let's take a look at some passages to see what I mean: (John 1:29-40 ; Matthew 16:13-23; Luke 5:1-8; --we are just looking at these verses to get a picture of who Peter was, so we will not be spending a lot of time on the context. John 1:29-40

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel. Then John gave this testimony: I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God. The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, Look, the Lamb of God! When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, What do you want? They said, Rabbi (which means Teacher), where are you staying? Come, he replied, and you will see. So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. Andrew, Simon Peters brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, We have found the Messiah (that is, the Christ). And he brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas (which, when translated, is Peter). ? observations: (chosen) 1. Peter did not say anything to Jesus 2. The first thing Andrew did... what was the second? Matthew 16:13-23 When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, Who do people say the Son of Man is? They replied, Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But what about you? he asked. Who do you say I am? Simon Peter answered, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ. From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. Never, Lord! he said. This shall never happen to you! Jesus turned and said to Peter, Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men. ? observations: (clear-sighted and exasperating; sinfulness) 1. Simon Peter answered Jesus question 2. Peter confronted Jesus rebukes Peter Luke 5:1-8 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the waters edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch. Simon answered, Master, weve worked hard all night and havent caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets. When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. So they signaled their partners in the other boat to 3

come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus knees and said, Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man! For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simons partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, Dont be afraid; from now on you will catch men. So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. ? observations: (clear-sighted) 1. Jesus used Peter's boat 2. Peter argues with Jesus but does what he is asked 3. Calls him Masterthen Lord 4. recognizes his sinfulnessJesus tells him not to fear Now, 1 Peter Introductory material: Author: Peter. I will not get into the discussion that has arisen in the last few years about doubts of Peter being the author. Scholars did not question Peter's authorship until the nineteenth century when destructive biblical criticism became popular. "Aside from the four Gospels and the letters of Paul, the external attestation for 1 Peter is as strong, or stronger, than that for any NT book. There is no evidence anywhere of controversy over its authorship or authority" J. Ramsey Michaels, 1 Peter, pp. xxxii, xxxiv. (Word Biblical Commentary) Date: Before 68 AD, when Nero committed suicide. Strong tradition has Peter crucified by Nero in the last few years of his life. Most scholars date 1 Peter around 63 AD or early part of 64 AD. 2 Peter a few year after that. Recipients and purpose: we will talk about that when we get to the text of 1 Peter. Theology: Theologically this epistle is eschatological (dealing with the end times). Along with its eschatological focus there is much emphasis on holiness (personal, social, and communal), hope, salvation, community, relationship to the world, the Trinity, and especially suffering. The Text: 1 Peter 1:1-2 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To Gods elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance. If one has been prone to think of Peter primarily as an aggressive man of action, he here reveals himself also as a man who had a firm grasp of the great spiritual realities of the faith. 1:1 Peter is a Greek name (lit. Petros, meaning a stone or rock). No one else in the New Testament has the name Peter, though Peter called Christians stones in this epistle (2:4-5). 4

In Aramaic "stone" is the word cephas. Jesus gave the name Cephas to Simon (The Greek transliteration of Simeon, Peter's Hebrew name) as a prediction of what this apostle would become (John 1:42; Matt. 16:18). The word "apostle" has both a technical and a general sense in the New Testament. It refers to the Twelve and Paul, but also to others who went out as the Twelve and Paul did to represent Jesus Christ (cf. Acts 14:4, 14). Peter is writing with full apostolic authority. Peter called his readers aliens (NIV strangers). In 1 Peter he is emphasizing that Christians are really citizens of heaven and our sojourn here on earth is only temporary (2:11; cf. Gen. 32:4; Ps. 39:12). The Greek word perepidemos (alien) contains both the ideas of alien nationality "This is an epistle from the homeless to the homeless." The particular group of Christians to whom this epistle went first lived in the northern Roman provinces of Asia Minor (modern western Turkey), north of the Taurus Mountains. 1 Peter is an encyclical letter and the sequence of provinces corresponds to the route that the bearer of the original epistle would have normally followed. Peter Davids estimated that when Peter wrote this epistle about one million Jews lived in Palestine and two to four million lived outside it. Asia Minor held the third largest concentration of Diaspora Jews after Babylon and Egypt. 1:2 Election originates in the eternal will and purpose of God the Father. The foreknowledge (Gr. prognosin; cf. Acts 2:23) of God refers, of course, to what God knows beforehand. ---check on time! Who wants to give me two views of foreknowledge? Shortly and quickly! God's foreknowledge has an element of determinism in it because whatever really happens that God knows beforehand exists or takes place because of His sovereign will. When Peter wrote that God chose according to His foreknowledge he did not mean that God chose the elect because He knew beforehand they would believe the gospel (the Arminian position). God chose them because He determined beforehand that they would believe the gospel (the Calvinist position; cf. Rom. 8:29-30; Eph. 1:3-6; 1 Thess. 1:4; 1 Peter 5:13). [due to introduction today, we will spend more time on foreknowledge later is need be] The Holy Spirit accomplished election when He separated the elect and set them aside to a special calling. God's purpose in election was that we might obey God the Son and that He might sprinkle us with His blood (cf. Eph. 2:10). This is probably an allusion to covenant ratification (cf. Exod. 24:5-8). Jesus' blood was the ratification of the New Covenant (cf. Matt. 26:27-28; Mark 14:23-24; Luke 22:20) since it was the basis for the forgiveness of sins (as promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34). Probably Peter had Old Testament sprinkling of blood in mind when he wrote this verse. There are many Old Testament allusions in this epistle. 5

Sprinkling with blood in Israel resulted in cleansing (Num. 19:9), bringing the person sprinkled under the terms and blessings of a covenant (Exod. 24:3-8), and induction into the priesthood and kingship. Members of the priesthood enjoyed the privilege of mediating between God and people (Exod. 29:21; Lev. 8:30). Consider this: The Christian whom God has figuratively sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ, the final sacrifice for our sins. Obedience is our responsibility, and sprinkling is our privilege. Christ's blood covers our sins as sinners, cleanses our defilement as unclean people, and consecrates our service as priests and kings.

APPLICATION: 1. Remember who you are: you are the elect, chosen by God you belong to the God the Father, God the Spirit, God the Son, Jesus Christ Do you see yourself through the eyes of the culture around around you? Do you think of yourself as a fairly ordinary person, no different than others? Do you view yourself as weak, a insignificant person, making no impact on the world?

2. You are exiles Are you too much at home in this world? Have you adopted the values of the surrounding culture? Have you adapted your lifestyle to what you see around you, sometimes to avoid hostility from the non-Christian world which wants you to conform to its way of living?