NORTH PINE BAPTIST CHURCH
Sunday 29th June 2025
1 Peter 1:1-2
“Who. What. Where. When.”
You can listen to this, all all NPBC sermons, at https://www.npbc.org.au/podcasts/media
Today we are going to start a new sermon series.
Over the next 3 months we are going to make our way through the books of 1 & 2 Peter.
If you haven’t read these books recently, I would encourage you to do so. Reading through a book in one sitting helps to give a reminder of the big picture and the flow of the books.
As we make our way through this series the words of these books will keep equipping us to live as the people of Jesus in a world that does not want Jesus – but who need Jesus.
Particularly in 1 Peter … Peter will focus on how believers can use their daily life and Christian example as a part of the process which will lead people to glorify God.
Which means the book is practical.
It also means the book has an evangelistic focus.
And the book is also a reminder of our identity as followers of Jesus – and the impact this identity will have on the world around us.
So that is what we can look forward to.
Prayer
When starting a new series, with the plan to systematically make our way through a book of the Bible, it helps to have an understanding of the bigger picture questions.
These bigger picture questions are answered by reading the first two verses of 1 Peter.
1 Peter 1:1-2
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, exiles, scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
This book, and also 2 Peter, are written by the Apostle Peter.
Now, when we say that a book is “written by” a certain person, we want to stop and be more specific in what we are saying.
Firstly, while Peter is the human author, all Scripture is God’s Word.
Peter himself is very aware of this. In 2 Peter 1:21 Peter describes the process of writing Scripture as humans who spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. The theological name for this process is “inspiration”.
Whenever we talk about a book of the Bible being written by a certain person, we always do so remembering that, ultimately, all Scripture is written by the Triune God.
Also, when talking about who “wrote” a certain book we want to remember is that, on some occasions especially with the NT letters, the person whose name is on the letter is not the one who wrote the words down on paper. Peter admits that much in 1 Peter 5:12
12 With the help of Silas (Silvanus) whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.
The “help” which Silas gave was to write down the words which Peter told him to write. The technical name for this job is “amanuensis”.
For those taking notes, it is spelt a-m-a-n-u-e-n-s-i-s
Peter isn’t the only Bible author who does this.
In Romans … Romans being a letter of Paul … in Romans 16:22 we read
22 I, Tertius, who wrote down this letter, greet you in the Lord.
In Jeremiah 36:4 we read
4 So Jeremiah called Baruch son of Neriah, and while Jeremiah dictated all the words the Lord had spoken to him, Baruch wrote them on the scroll.
So we see, it is not unusual for the author of a letter to use the help of an amanuensis.
The words that the amanuensis writes are dictated to them by the author.
The author who speaks is One who has been inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The result, which we call the Bible, is the inspired Word of God.
Why do we want to know this?
Because we can look at an author like Peter and make assumptions.
Peter is a fisherman.
We might think, “ You don’t need to be that smart to be a fisherman.”
“That is why Peter used an amanuensis – because Peter couldn’t write.”
These are all false assumptions.
Peter wasn’t just a fisherman – he had a fishing business.
Doing books. Writing invoices. Running a business. Peter could do that.
Asking for help from Silas doesn’t say anything about the education level of Peter.
And even if it was true that Peter couldn’t write … so what?
A specific education level is not a pre-requisite for being an author of Scripture.
God can inspire anyone He chooses. In this case God chose Peter.
It is the same Peter who walked with Jesus in ministry for over three years.
This Peter who has an interesting personality, with many character flaws. He was the one who said he would never deny Jesus … but he did.
After the ascension of Jesus, Peter became a key leader in the early church. Peter was also the first apostle to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles … specifically the household of Cornelius who was a Roman centurion living in Caesarea.
The Apostle Paul would become known as the Apostle to the Gentiles.
But it is the Apostle Peter who initially paved the way for the Gospel to be spread beyond the Jewish community.
When 1 Peter was written it was approximately 64AD – a bit over 30 years since Jesus ascended.
Many churches have been planted by Paul, and many of Pauls’ letters have been circulated around the churches. At this time the Holy Spirit prompts Peter to write a letter.
This letter is not written to a specific church.
It is written to multiple churches in a region.
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
These regions were all located in what is now modern-day Türkiye. It is where the Gentiles live – Gentile being people who are non-Jews.
The apostle Peter, who has a real heart for the Gentiles, now writes to these churches.
All the churches have a similar identity – which is described in 1 Peter 1:1.
The NIV translation describes their identity as “God’s elect, exiles, scattered throughout the provinces.” This isn’t the best translation.
A more accurate and literal translation would be to describe the people in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia as “the elect who are foreigners dispersed throughout the provinces.”
The elect who are foreigners dispersed throughout the provinces.
That isn’t just a description of the people to whom Peter is writing. It is a description of everyone who has come to know Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
At one point all of us were not foreigners in that world – we were citizens of that world. The world was our home, our nation, or identity, our heart, our focus. And we were very happy, and very content, and very comfortable …
… and very much on the road to eternal separation from God
… and headed for eternal destruction.
Then, at some point …
Because of the God’s electing love.
Because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Because of the victory that comes to us only through the power of the resurrection of Jesus.
Because of grace, and forgiveness, and mercy, and compassion.
Because of this … and so much more … our identity changes.
We are now disciples – followers of Jesus. Which means we are no longer citizens of the world, we are foreigners in this world. Foreigners who are now scattered and dispersed through all the provinces … through all the world.
We don’t belong in the world anymore. We can’t be comfortable with the patterns of the world anymore. A transformation needs to take place. Peter describes the nature of this transformation in 1 Peter 1:2 where we are transformed
2 … through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood
The sanctifying work of the Spirit is … at the same time … a completed action, and an ongoing action.
To be sanctified means that we have been made holy. When we confess Jesus as Saviour and Lord we are saying “we are unholy sinners who need to be cleansed by Jesus.”
Putting our faith in Jesus means trusting … believing … knowing … that Jesus has paid for our sin. All that we need for eternal life is given to us through Jesus.
We have been made holy because of Jesus … because of the work of the Triune God. It is a completed action.
The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit is also an ongoing action.
It needs to be because the disciples of Jesus are pretty average … or below average … when it comes to living the way Jesus wants us to live.
We lie. We are greedy. We fornicate. We get angry. We are aggressive. We are impatient. We are self-absorbed.
We are called to be obedient to Jesus.
… to follow His Scriptures.
… to follow His actions.
… to make all our thoughts captive to Christ.
But we don’t.
That is where the ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit kicks in … sometimes with a swift kick. The sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit which reminds us about our identity … that we are “the elect who are foreigners dispersed throughout the provinces.”
We are foreigners.
We don’t fit in, we should keep standing out.
But it is not easy to keep standing out in this world.
Especially when we live in a world where there is a culture which encourages persecution of Christians, and where many Christians suffered.
That is the world which the churches in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia find themselves. Peter talks about the issue of persecution and suffering on multiple occasions. Peter knows that suffering for the faith is a tool that gets used to make people just fit in.
Peter also knows that physically suffering for the faith is not the only tool to get us Jesus following foreigners who are scattered among the provinces to just fit in.
Indeed, physical persecution and suffering for the faith is not even the most powerful tool.
The most powerful tool the world uses to get us to fit in, is to entice us to stop acting as foreigners … and just behave as citizen of the world.
Just be like one of us.
That’s the enticement.
In the days of Peter the Roman Empire was very good at enticing everyone to just fit in.
To show how they did this we are going to focus on the city of Corinth.
This is what Corinth today looks like.
Show next slide
This drawing represents the city of Corinth as it was in the first century, based on extensive archaeological evidence.
(I use power point extensively - the drawing is found here https://www.britannica.com/topic/agora)
(For your own research also look at these sites
https://pausanias-footsteps.nl/regios/argolis/korinthe/?lang=en
All cities … including small cities and towns … had a grand road and a grand gate that you walked through.
Emotionally the grand road said “we welcome you – be one of us.”
Notice the pillars. Not just here but in many other buildings.
Many of these grand roads had covered colonnades on both sides. So you can get out of the sun and into the cool.
Effectively it is first century air conditioning.
The city was saying “Citizen, look how well we look after you and care for your needs. That is what we are here for.”
All cites had an area set aside to provide good governance.
The Senate house which provided function, and rules, and regulations, and the delegation of capital works investment.
The Bema which was a place you could go if you didn’t like what was happening and you could present a petition. “Get involved and have your say. This is a democracy.”
There was also the court house. So you know you can get justice, and everything is fair.
In every city there was always at least one shopping area.
Some cities had multiple shopping areas. Which is the case in Corinth.
Here.
Here.
Here.
Here.
Everything you needed … everything you could possibly want … was all provided.
If you wanted entertainment
Most cities had an Odeion this was where plays were shown.
Bigger cities had an outdoor Theatre … with seating for 10,000-12,000 people.
Many cities also had a gymnasium. Which weren’t just for exercise and sport. But were also places for community gatherings. The one in Corinth was located 500m outside the city.
And also cities had multiple places of worship.
Even small towns would have 2 or 3 temples.
In Corinth there were multiple temples – all were building of significant size.
here … alter for general worship
here … there are 2
here … there are 2
here … which is possibly the temple of Apollo
here …
and here … this is the highest point and so has the imperial cult here where you came to worship the living divinity called Caeser.
Some of them who described themselves as the son of a god.
Eight temples in total in Corinth.
Basically, whatever worldview or ideal you held to, you could find a group of people who would support you and tell you that you are correct in your interpretation.
You could still keep your religion … just as long as you let everyone have their belief as well.
That is how Rome structured their cities right across the Roman Empire
Ephesus. Phillipi. Colossae. Thessalonica. Crete. Cyprus
All the places that Paul journeyed to on his second ministry journey.
That is how these cities were designed.
In the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
The cities, and even the smaller towns, this is how they were basically structured.
The structure of the city was very deliberate.
You see the Romans were very clever in the way they sought to conquer nations. The Romans didn’t use force, or slavery, or exile. The process used by the Romans was to entice the citizens into the culture. They would seek to provide their citizens, the ones who had been conquered, with a sense of social stability and support.
Is there anything you need?
What could you possibly want over all of this?
Our cities are the greatest there has ever been and they will give you everything you need.
All you need to do is fit in.
All you need to do is fit in.
Physical persecution was a challenge, but it wasn’t the greatest challenge. The biggest challenge was the challenge of compromise.
Fit in with society.
Follow their norms and rules.
Don’t stand up too much … and certainly don’t stand out.
This was the environment where the elect who are foreigners dispersed throughout the provinces lived.
When we understand this big picture we realise something very significant don’t we.
Nothing has changed.
In 2000 years, nothing has changed.
We are still the elect who are foreigners dispersed throughout the provinces and we are still surrounded by a culture which is saying
… you don’t need anything else.
… what more could you desire.
… just fit in.
We still live in an environment where we continue to need the ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit to equip us to be obedient to Christ.
Knowing this to be the case the Holy Spirit inspired Peter to write some letters. Peter then invites Silas over to his house and says, “Silas I need you to be an amanuensis and write down what I say.”
Write it down so that the people in
… Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia.
… and the people who are sitting in North Pine Baptist Church.
… and all the elect who are foreigners dispersed throughout the provinces through all the ages.
Write so that, by the grace of God through the ongoing sanctifying work of the Holy Spirt, they will keep standing fast as they live in obedience to their Saviour and Lord Jesus.
Write so they will have God’s Word to train, rebuke, comfort, direct, encourage and grow them as they live in a world that just wants them to fit in.
Write so that they keep being reminded of their identity as my people that I have chosen them.
These are letters to all exile foreigners scattered among the provinces. That is the bigger picture of 1 and 2 Peter. Let’s move forward praying for a heart, and humility, and willingness, to allow God’s Word to keep transforming – especially when we have been tempted to just fit in.
Prayer
