OK. Good morning to everyone. We're gloating in Ironwood this morning because we didn't get any snow. But I hear some of you were blessed, AGM, 18 inches at Jim's house. So we don't get to gloat very often. So usually the other way around. 

We're working through 1 Peter. We're in chapter 2 this morning at verses 9 to 12. And in our text this morning, Peter gives us one of the most succinct and important exhortations in the scriptures concerning who we are in Christ, why God saved us, God's intention for us as believers in Jesus Christ in this world, and how it is that we are to be his witnesses for the salvation of men and the glory of God. These short verses are jam-packed with truth and practical application for us. 

And we're going to see that God chose us for a special purpose, that he recreated us and dealt with the problem of sin in us in order to allow us to be his ambassadors, bringing the message of the gospel to the world, singing his praises and his goodness. And also that he empowers us by his life in us to walk, to conduct ourselves, to live a life that is consistent with who we are in Christ, to show the power of the gospel.

We're going to see in our study this morning that God saved us for the express purpose that we might sing his praises, speak of his goodness, preach the gospel. We are to talk the talk. And we are to constantly be exalting Christ, singing the praises of God for who he is and what he has done for us. And we are also to walk the walk. We are to have our conduct honorable among the pagans so that they might see Christ in us, that they might see a difference from the world, and that our message of salvation through faith in Jesus and a new life in him might not be undermined or rendered null and void by how we live. 

I was listening to a sermon the other day, and the preacher said that our primary weapon in evangelism is how we live. I understand his zeal for the text, such as the one before us, that speak of our witness by how we walk and the importance of not undermining our message by sinful living. But I want to make clear as we begin this morning that our primary weapon in evangelism is the gospel preached, is Jesus Christ crucified, buried, and risen from the dead. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe. 

We can hand a tract to a man at the grocery store, the gas station, and never see him again, and he can hear that message, he can believe, and he can be saved. On the other hand, we could, as the Jehovah's Witnesses or the Mormons or even many of the so-called evangelical churches today, attempt to win men by ministering to their needs, by serving them, by loving them, living a holy life before them. But without the gospel truth clearly proclaimed, there is no way of salvation. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. 

I remember a pastor from a Bible church counseling me years ago that we might have to build the bridge of friendship with the lost for many years, minister to their needs, love them by helping them before we earn the right to preach the gospel to them. That's total hogwash, my friends. Don't fall into this idea. We are first and foremost to preach the gospel to the lost. All those other things are great, and it's our heart's desire to love men. But it is the message preached that is our primary weapon in evangelism, and we must be clear about that.

At the same time, the importance of our life and witness, how we conduct ourselves, how we walk, cannot be overestimated among those who know us, who watch us, and observe the life-transforming power of the gospel in our lives. Perhaps the greatest detriment to the witness of the church is the hypocrisy of those who claim his name. What Peter's telling us this morning in our text is that we as believers must not only sing his praises, we must not only preach the good news, talk the talk, but we also must walk the walk if we're going to be effective witnesses in this world for the gospel of Jesus Christ and the salvation of lost souls.

This message is vital for the church today, and we will see that God has saved us for this very purpose, and he's made every provision for this to be a reality in the lives of his children as we walk day by day in this world by faith. 

Let's look at our text, 1 Peter 2.9. Peter writes, but you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who once were not a people, but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 

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

I've given you four points on your outline. First, chosen by God. Second, proclaim his praises. Third, sojourners and pilgrims. And fourth, a walking witness. 

Well, last time we studied the great truth of God's plan to build the church. Jesus is the chief cornerstone, elect and precious. Remember, God examined him thoroughly, looked at him, and found him to be the perfect stone, the cornerstone on which the entire edifice is built. And we, too, are living stones being built together into the spiritual house. These are tremendous truths. 

And we saw the contrast for those who reject the cornerstone, who will not believe Jesus. Remember, they stumble over the loose stone in the path. And Jesus becomes a petra, a crushing stone of judgment for those who will not believe. Well, beginning in verse 9 of our text this morning, Peter reminds us who we are. He reminds us how we got here. And then he tells us why God saved us and what he expects from us in our lives in this world. 

Look at verse 9 again. You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, who were once not a people, but now are the people of God, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy. 

Remember that Peter is writing to believers who are being persecuted. And his intent is to encourage them, is to give them assurance. He started this letter in chapter 1 explaining the great salvation that we have through faith in Jesus Christ. And he started with the great truth that God chose us in him. This speaks to the truth that it is God who conceived, designed, and brought to pass the plan of salvation. Only God could conceive of such a wonderful, loving, and gracious plan. 

Turn back to Romans 3 with me at verse 19. Romans chapter 3, 19. Paul has already talked in Romans 1 about the plans of man for his own salvation and religion. He says that man has suppressed the truth of God. He holds down and rejects God's plan, God's way of salvation, and has designed gods and religions after his own corrupt nature. They seek to justify themselves by the works of the law. But look at Romans 3, 19. Paul says, now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, in order that every mouth may be stopped and all the world may become guilty before God. 

Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. Stay right there with me in Romans 3. The purpose of the law of Moses was not for us to earn our own righteousness by keeping it. The purpose was to show us our sin, to show us our complete inability to save ourselves, and to lead us to faith in Jesus, the only Savior of man. 

Now look at Romans 3, 21. In contrast, he says, but now the righteousness of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there's no difference, for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by his blood through faith to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, to demonstrate at the present time his righteousness, look at this now, that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. 

You see, we must understand the condition of the lost man in Adam. He is controlled and dominated by indwelling sin. Romans 5 tells us that he is a sinner, that he was made a sinner in Adam. So man sins because he is a sinner on the inside. It's like a computer whose hard drive has been corrupted. It's non-functional. Everything that comes out of it is corrupted. And so man's attempt to dress up the outside by way of religion and works and rites and rituals does nothing about the corruption on the inside. 

Peter's going to talk to us about that in 2 Peter 1, when we get there, about how some men have come into the church escaping the pollution that is in the world, but still have the inner corruption in themselves. God's plan is not to have man accomplish his own salvation, earn his own righteousness, because God is holy and He must punish every sin and all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So God made a way for man to receive His righteousness. 

We all deserved eternal death in the lake of fire because we all sinned. We could not remedy our situation in any way because we were sinners by nature on the inside. But God became a man and the person of Jesus Christ, took on flesh and lived an innocent and holy life, never committing a single sin. And when He went to the cross and died in our place for our sins, He took the full punishment that we deserved. That's what that word propitiation means. He was a substitute. He died in my place, in my stead. 

And in this way, God could remain just because He punished every sin on Christ. And at the same time, He can justify the one who places his faith in Jesus. That is that God gives to us His righteousness and imputes our sins to Christ when we believe. This is the great plan of God by which He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. This is a profound assurance for us, and especially for those who were suffering persecution in Peter's time, assurance that it is God who conceived this plan, it is God who brought it to pass, and it is God who chose us, set us apart, brought us to gospel message, saved us, and recreated us. Gave us a new hard drive, if you will. 

And it's now God, by His grace in which we stand, that keeps us by His power, that imparts strength to our inner man by His Spirit that dwells in us, who lives His very life in and through us by the power that raised Jesus from the dead. My brothers and sisters, it is the God who cannot lie that has promised to bring us to the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls, glorification and eternity in heaven with Him. 

This is all wrapped up in the words of Peter, you are a chosen generation. What assurance we have by faith in Christ. And next he says we are a royal priesthood. This is who you are, a member of the royal family, a priest of God. And what does a priest do? He mediates between God and man. He brings men to God. We no longer offer sacrifices of animals on an altar. Aren't you so glad for that? We no longer deal in pictures and shadows. We have the fullness in Christ. We no longer offer dead sacrifices to God, but we offer ourselves, our lives, as a living sacrifice day by day to God. Our lives each day are a sacrifice to God for His purposes, for His service, to be a royal priest, to bring men to God. 

We are a holy nation. His own special, peculiar people. He has called us out, sanctified us, regenerated us and dwelled us to be His witnesses. And we do this first by proclaiming His praises. The word translated proclaim means literally to publish or to show forth. It means to make known by praising or proclaiming, to celebrate. We are to be people who speak well of God, who tell of His excellent greatness, to praise Him and celebrate what He has done for us. We are to be speaking of Jesus all the time. 

I pray that I would be better at this. I feel convicted by the testimony of those who obey this great intention of God in our salvation so well. When I was writing these notes, I thought of Ralph and Harriet Swanson. Many of you knew them. Never complaining. Never focusing on the temporal pains and sufferings and problems of this world. 

I remember when they were driving down Highway 51, they probably were in their 80s then, and a shower unit flew out of the back of a truck and hit them. And they were all banged up, and they never complained, and they came in here all bruised, and Ralph said to me, I told Harriet that she shouldn't take a shower in the middle of the highway. They just praised Jesus and thanked Him that they were okay. And even when they weren't okay, I remember visiting Ralph in the rehabilitation center over here in Manaqua on two different occasions in his life. The first time he was in there, he was out shoveling his driveway, and when he went to put the shovel away in the garage, he lost his balance and he fell into the studs of the wall and onto the concrete, and he was an awful mess. You remember that, John? 

Man, his eyes were swollen shut. He couldn't see. He was all black and blue and purple laying there in the bed, and I went in to see him, and he said, I have to tell you a story. He said, a little while ago, there were two young nurses came into my room. He said, I was pretending to be asleep. You couldn't tell. His eyes were swollen shut. And he says, one of the nurses said, what happened to him? And the other nurse said, he fell. And the first nurse replied, what, out of an airplane? And Ralph laughed until the pain stopped him. He just kept talking about Jesus and how good God is, and I remember the second occasion I had to visit him and Harriet there, they were dying. But every time you would go to visit them, they'd just talk about how good Jesus is, how the very best day of their life was at hand, when they would close their eyes in death and be with their Lord. Harriet kept saying, it's going to be the best day of my life. And then she'd ask me how so-and-so was doing in the church, how we needed to be a witness to this person or that person. She said, I've been talking to this nurse, and she's having a hard time, and you need to go see her. 

I think of Fran Maxinoski. Never once in all the years I knew her did I ever ask her how she was doing, and she would begin by complaining about aches and pains or old age or weather or how bad the world is. She always said the same thing, I'm wonderful in Jesus. I'm wonderful in Jesus. 

Peter's been telling us about our great salvation in Christ, all that God is, all that He's done for us by His grace, who we are in Him and the grand purpose He has for us and the amazing promise of eternal life. And when people ask me, how's it going, what do I talk about? The snow that won't go away? The animals that are sick? The price of living? The politics and injustices of the world? Or do I proclaim His praises? Oh, how good God is! Do you know what Jesus has done for me? Can you believe how good God is, how He's working in my life to allow me to love my brothers and sisters and be part of this fellowship and lead people to eternal life by the power of the gospel? Can you believe how He has changed my life and made me a new man because He loves me so much? 

I was an awful man. I was an awful man, a blasphemer and a drunk, a proud and arrogant man, and even then, while I was still a sinner, God loved me and He saved me. He's so good. He's so faithful. Let me tell you about what He's been doing in my life and how He's using me for His glory. Let me tell you about Jesus and the good news of salvation through faith in Him. 

God saved us so that we could proclaim His praises, that we could tell the world about how good and loving and merciful and just He is, and how He offers salvation to anyone who will believe Jesus, who will come to faith in Him. Second Samuel 22:50, Therefore I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name. Psalms go on and on and on. Psalm 18:49, Therefore I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the Gentiles and sing praises to your name. Psalm 108:3, I will praise you, O Lord, among the peoples, and I will sing praises to you among the nations. Paul says we preach Christ crucified. We should be constantly, continually speaking about Jesus, singing His praises, and preaching Christ crucified. This is why God saved us and left us here on this earth, that the world may know that Jesus is the Christ. 

We once were not a people. We once walked in darkness, but now we are by the grace of God, now the people of God. His own special people. And now we walk in the light, we know the truth, we experience His grace and goodness every day. Let's tell people about our great God and the salvation He provides. 

Next we see in our text that we are sojourners and pilgrims in this world. These are two very interesting words. Beloved, I beg you, verse 11, as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

Peter writes, beloved, those beloved of God, this word means God's beloved. He says, I beg you. The word often translated beseech, it's the word paraclete, helper, comforter. It means to come alongside. It's a gentle, imploring command, I beseech you, I beg you brothers. And then he says, as sojourners and pilgrims. The word translated sojourners literally speaks of being alongside of a house or dwelling. And the word for pilgrims means literally to make your home among the pagans. The picture here that Peter paints is that of a people who are aliens, who are foreigners, who are strangers in a foreign land. And as citizens of heaven, we are now living in this foreign land right alongside the pagans. 

We've made our temporary home right next door to the lost of this world. This is a major difference between the nation of Israel and the church. Sometimes you'll hear a preacher say that the church is a city on a hill. But this really refers to Israel. Israel was to be a separate nation set on a hill as a witness to all the other nations. But in the church, God's intention is for us to go out into the world and live right among the pagans as neighbors and coworkers and friends. We are to make our home right in the world. We are to be in the world, but not of the world. We are to be different, to be holy, set apart as a witness, but existing right in amongst them, as we used to say. Down south that was, that's where we sit now. 

So the picture here is we are not citizens of this world, but of heaven. This city is not our home, but we eagerly wait for the city not made with hands. This is our hope. This is our expectation. But for now, we are strangers in a foreign land. We are ambassadors of God, given the word of reconciliation to proclaim and publish among the Gentiles. 

But as we live in this world, a great part of our witness is to live out who we are, not who we were. Notice what Peter says, verse 11, Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. 

Abstain from fleshly lusts. The word abstain means to continually set yourself off or back from. This exhortation is again an appeal for us to put behind us the things of the old life, those things that we did when we were an Adam. We are now to reckon ourselves dead indeed to sin, but alive to God, to live in light of this truth. In 1 Peter 4:3, he says, For we have spent enough of our past lifetime in doing the will of the Gentiles, done enough of that, walking in lewdness and lusts and drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, abominable idolatries. 

And then he says, In regard to these, they think it strange that you do not run with them in the same flood of dissipation, speaking evil of you. We once were sinners. We once were controlled and dominated by the sin that dwells in us, and thus we lived in these things, the things that bring the wrath of God on the sons of disobedience. But this is no longer who we are. Peter uses a military term here, and he animates the fleshly lusts as those who bring war, who enact battle against your soul. 

Sin still dwells in us. But it's vital that we understand that we died to its controlling power, that we no longer are who we were. The term flesh or fleshly speaks of the physical body, it's a form of the word sarx here. It's totally a neutral term. It can mean just the physical body, skin and bones and flesh, but it can also have a negative connotation, speaking of this physical body controlled by that indwelling sin, the sin that still is in us and still seeks to control us. It's not who we are, it's not our nature, we are new men in Christ, we are made alive in our spirits, this is who we are in Christ. 

We are not two men, we are one man, and we exist according to the Word of God as body, soul and spirit. In Hebrews 4:12 it says, For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. The word soul and spirit are sometimes used interchangeably, we speak that way when we talk about our soul, but they are distinct as terms. Our spirit, pneuma, is who we are, the I, the inner man, and it's regenerate, it's made alive in Christ. Our soul's been quickened, we say, meaning our spirit. 

Our soul speaks directly of our mind and emotions. The psuche, where we get our word psychology. And our body is the flesh, the sarx, this body in which we live, sometimes soma. Our spirit is regenerate, but our body and our soul are not. So it's not as if we have two natures, that we are somehow two men, partially in Adam, partially in Christ. We are in Christ. I often hear Christians say, well that's true in Christ. Well, are you in Christ? Yes, you're in Christ, well then that's true. 

Okay? We are in Christ, and we are new in our spirit, we are regenerate, we are fit for heaven, but in this body, in our members, there's a law or principle of indwelling sin, and we will not be released totally from that until we get our new bodies at glorification. In the New Testament, the consistent truth taught is that we are new men with new natures, dead to law, dead to sin, freed from the fear of death, and now we live under grace in righteousness unto eternal life. This truth is always the basis for the exhortations as to how we should live. 

Like in Colossians 3:9, he talks about how you've died, your life is hidden with Christ, he tells us not to act like who we were, those old deeds, and he says, do not lie in verse 9. Why? Why should I not lie? Because you have put off the old man, and you have put on the new man, he says. So when Peter says, the fleshly lusts which war against your soul, he's using the term psuche, he's talking about the sin that still dwells in us, and also the unregenerate part of us existing in our mind and emotions. 

The fleshly lusts that come from in us, that is the unholy desires that arise from sin and from the flesh in our minds, are seeking to manifest themselves through our bodies, through our members, to sin. They war against the soul. I don't mean to be complicated here, but it's an absolutely vital distinction to understand. That the believer in Jesus Christ is new in his nature, he's alive in his spirit, it's who he is on the inside, and that we are holy, and therefore we should expect to live holy. 

And yet what do you hear all the time? Well, we're going to sin. Well Paul, he couldn't, you know, Romans 7. What's the Bible say? What's God say? We win the battle in the mind thinking God's thoughts, renewing our minds to His Word, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. The battle is in the mind to know and believe and trust what God says is true, regardless of our experience or emotions or our own thinking. 

I think perhaps the key verse for understanding this is Romans 6:6, if you'd like to look at that verse in your own Bible, Romans 6:6. Paul says, knowing this, this is a certainty, that our old man, well who was the old man? That was the man in Adam. He was controlled by and dwelling sin, under law, headed for death. Our old man was crucified with Jesus, that the body of sin, why did God put us on the cross with Christ when we believed Him? That the body of sin might be done away with. 

death, or rendered powerless, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin." When we believe Jesus, God united us to Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection. Romans 6 says we died with Christ. Colossians 3, we died with Christ. Colossians 3 says we have put off the old man, have put on the new man. Ephesians 4 says the same thing. 

Peter talks a lot about holiness in this epistle. And like the other New Testament authors, he always ties holy living, practical righteousness, to regeneration, to the new birth. We are to live holy because we are holy. God has dealt with the problem of indwelling sin and its dominance in our lives in Adam. He dealt with it by crucifying our old man with Jesus on the cross and raising us to a new life. 

We have been crucified with Christ in order that, for the express purpose that, our body would no longer be controlled by indwelling sin. This is the body of sin in Romans 6. Now our body is filled with, controlled by the Holy Spirit when we walk by faith. Sin is still there, still a force, seeking to control our minds, emotions, and bodies. This is the meaning of the term flesh in its negative sense. 

But we don't have to yield to it because we died to it. We are dead to sin and alive to God. I think this is so important. I think you know I think this is important because I never quit talking about it. But there's so much preaching out there that undermines this. You know, you need to do better. I remember Pastor Renz telling me a story years ago. He played golf with this guy one day and the guy said, he was a pastor, a preacher, I'd like to draw a picture of the people in my church on that ball and just give it to them. Pastor Renz was really troubled by that. 

But the point is, giving them the law and bearing down on them and convicting them and telling them how bad they are and how sinful they are and their heart is desperately wicked and deceitful above all things and you're just a bunch of lousy bums, completely undermines the truth of what God says about us. So then we have all kinds of people out there thinking, well I'm a lousy bum and a rotten sinner, but I need to buck up and do better and keep the law. 

You see the difference in what God says? He says, I, by His grace, not because of me, not anything I've done, I have totally transformed who you are on the inside. I have made you a new creation and a new man in Christ. And not only that, but I've come to live in you and empower you and impart strength to you so that you might live a holy life. That's the whole purpose that I saved you. 

Peter says he's given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, that we lack nothing. So my expectation should be to live a holy life. And yet what do you hear all the time? Well, we're going to sin. Well Paul, he couldn't, you know, Romans 7. What's the Bible say? What's God say? We win the battle in the mind thinking God's thoughts, renewing our minds to His Word, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, letting the Word of Christ dwell in us richly, walking in the Spirit, abiding in Christ. 

These are all synonymous, and they're the key to the Christian life. Christ in you, the hope of glory. This is God's way for me to have my conduct be honorable among the Gentiles. Know who you are, reckon what God says is true of you in Christ, and yield to His life and power in you by faith. 

Don't live like the pagans, like who you were in Adam. Give out the truth of who you now are in Christ. Peter and Paul come back to this continually, and thus we come back to this continually. Have a walking witness in this world. I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they look intently at you, when they watch you, when they observe you, they may by your good works glorify God in the day of visitation. 

Our greatest weapon in evangelism is undoubtedly the gospel preached, but our walk must match our talk as well. We must have a speaking witness in this world to every creature, but in the course of our daily living, walking about among the pagans, we must have a walking witness as well. 

I was working with this Catholic buddy of mine the other day on the farm, and I'd stopped at Pat's IGA in Hurley, and I'd bought this trash can. Well, who knows what anything costs anymore, right? So I buy this trash can, and the guy says, oh, you get a lid with that. So I'm looking at the can and the lid, and walking, it's like a 32-gallon can, and I walk up there, and there's a thing on the lid, but there's no thing on the trash can. So she scans the lid, and she says $18 and something. 

Okay, so I'm walking out of the place, and I'm thinking, I don't think that's enough for that trash can, but boy, that's got to be way too much for that lid, you know? So I go home, and I'm talking to this guy, and I'm telling him about it, and I say, I got to go back and make sure I paid for that trash can. He says, why? I said, well, because I'm not going to steal the trash can if I was supposed to pay. I'm trying to figure this out, right? He says, well, if it's not more than a day's wages, it's not a mortal sin. I'm like, man, what's that about, right? 

So I said, well, it's a venial sin, then, right? What do I do about that? We must have a walk that matches our talk. Then I go back to Pat's and get the cashier, just to finish the story, and she says, oh, I don't know, whatever, don't worry about it. I'm like, well, get the manager. So then I get this kid, and he's like an assistant manager, and he's, well, I don't know. 

And he's looking on the computer, oh, yeah, the trash can's $42, and the lid's $18, like, whew. So I said, all right, well, I'll pay for the trash can. And he looks down the aisle like somebody's watching us, and he says, I wouldn't worry about it if I was you. I said, well, get your boss, you know? So he goes upstairs in the place, gets the head guy. He comes down, and he goes, don't worry about it. It's fine. 

They wouldn't let me pay for the trash can. Anyway, what I want you to see in the rest of this verse is that God has a very specific purpose for your honorable conduct, your walking witness among the Gentiles, the unbelievers in this world. He says that, so that, for the express purpose that, when they speak against you as evildoers, and this is assumed that they will, there will be accusations, there will be persecutions. Don't let them be true, right? Don't suffer for wrongdoing. Peter says it's better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong. 

But do good, and let them say what they will. And when they revile you, it says they may by your good works which they observe glorify God in the day of visitation. And the word visitation is a very dynamic word. It's the word episcope, where we get our word episcopal. It generally refers to the office of a bishop or an overseer. It's used in Acts 1:20 of an office. It's used in 1 Timothy 3:1 as the position of bishop or elder in the church. 

We see a similar meaning back in 1 Peter 2:25 where it says, for you were like sheep going astray but now have returned to the shepherd and overseer of your souls. But interestingly here, as well as in Luke 19:44, it's translated visitation. Now you may have heard and heard it taught that the idea of God's visitation speaks only of judgment, as in the day of judgment. And it's used that way quite often in the Old Testament, and I just think that idea misses the mark here. Wiest comments that whenever the term visit or visitation is used in the New Testament, it speaks of God visiting in grace and mercy to offer salvation. 

We see this in Acts 15:14. Simon has declared how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out of them a people for His name. I want you to look at Luke 19. We're going to close here, but I want you to look at Luke 19 at verse 41. This is Jesus coming into Jerusalem, parallel passage Matthew 23:37. He says, now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, if you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. 

For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you, and close you in on every side, and level you and your children within you to the ground, and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation. This is the same Greek word here, the time of their visitation was in the first coming of Christ. And why did Christ come? Not to judge the world, but to save the world. He came to His own, He offered Himself as the Messiah, the King of Israel, but they rejected Him. 

They did not know it was their time of visitation. And this is why Jesus wept. I have longed to gather you under my wings as a hen gathers her chicks, but you were not willing. And so, my friends, we get the full picture here from Peter's words to us this morning. He says God chose you, He saved you, He caused you to be born again, He regenerated you, and He dwelt you with His Holy Spirit for an express purpose. First that you might sing His praises to the nations. Preach the gospel to every creature, talk the talk. 

And second, that you might now live a holy life, having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that you might walk the walk. And the express purpose of our life here on this earth as witnesses in word and in deed is so that when God visits the pagan sinner in mercy and grace, that he might come to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ and glorify God. What a blessing and privilege it is to know Jesus and to seek to make Him known by our words and by our deeds. 

Let's close in prayer. 

Father, we're so thankful that you just continue to teach us, that you continue to guide us and encourage us and renew our minds to what you say is true. It's so easy for our mind and emotions to wander and to be influenced by the world and by the sins still in us and to think thoughts that aren't consistent with what you've said. Help us to take those thoughts in obedience to Christ, to line them up with what your word says and put them in their proper place and then to act accordingly. 

Help us to trust you, believe you, and depend on you so that we might glorify you and that men, when you come to them in grace and mercy with the gospel message, would by our witness believe and be saved for your glory. In Jesus' name, amen.