On a day when millions of people across the country are celebrating Easter with special services and ceremonies both pagan and religious, it is with a sense of concern that I propose to present this message to you today.  On the one hand, I feel a pressure to conform to the common theme of celebrating Easter, as many other pastors of churches are doing.  And yet on the other hand, I feel a need to make a distinction in what I believe is the core of the gospel; mainly, as Jesus said, “They that worship God must worship Him in

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As we come to the close of 1 Peter, he has said in his letter again and again that submission and suffering are used by God as the means to sanctification. Sanctification is simply spiritual maturity.  God uses trials to work in you and conform you into the image of Jesus Christ.  Now added to that “formula” if you will, Peter elaborates by saying that submission and suffering produce humility, which is God’s will for you.  God wants you to be humble, because Jesus was humble and in humbling Himself, He was able to fulfill God’s purposes. The opposite of

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If you were reading consecutively through 1 Peter, it almost seems as if chapter 4 would have been the logical place to end the letter.  The theme of 1 Peter has been sanctification, and at the end of chapter 4 we see basically a summary of the teaching that sanctification comes through suffering because of the reaction of the world to holy Christian living.  And in that context, Peter says that God will be the judge of such matters and we should entrust our souls to a faithful Creator.  But he also says that judgment will begin with the house

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The theme of Peter’s epistle is our sanctification.  He stated his thesis in chapter one, quoting the Lord who said, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”  Sanctification is being set apart in salvation for holiness.  By justification we are reckoned as holy by what Christ did for us on the cross.  In sanctification we live out that holiness as Christ lives in us.  It’s living holy, because He is holy, and He is Lord of our lives and lives in us and through us.  Sanctification is submitting first of all to the Lord in doing His will.  It’s

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I don’t know how many of you are familiar with the term “preppers.” Preppers are people that are waiting, planning, and preparing for the apocalypse or something like the end of civilization as we know it. These folks are convinced that the world cannot keep going like it is without imploding or exploding, and what life is left will be forced to make do without all the luxuries and amusements and technology that we are now using. And so they are prepping for this coming time by storing up weapons, ammunition, food, water and things like that. These people are

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The recurring theme of Peter’s epistle is sanctification.  Sanctification means to be set apart unto God.  To be holy. To live holy lives.  And the point that has emerged again and again in this letter is that sanctification is a life that is characterized by living in the spirit and not in the flesh.  It is a life of holiness, as opposed to a life of wanton pleasure. In chapter 1 vs 2, Peter says we have been saved “by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ.” The Spirit sets us apart to be obedient to Christ. 

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If sanctification is becoming conformed to the image of Christ, then it stands to reason that we must suffer the same kind of things that Christ suffered.  Hebrews 5:8 says, Christ learned obedience from the things which He suffered. At the beginning of Peter’s epistle, in chapter 1 vs 2, he makes the correlation between obedience and sanctification. Peter writes to those “who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood.”  Notice the sanctifying work of the Spirit is to teach

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I’m sure you have all heard of someone who is at the top of the world, or the height of fame, or something to that effect, and they are said to be “living the good life.” In the jargon of the world the phrase “living the good life” is associated with having an abundance of material things to enjoy; money, nice clothes, good food, luxurious vacations, and expensive cars, beautiful  houses and beautiful people.  To the world it means having the kind of life that is fulfilling, that is happy, that has all the luxuries of life in abundance.  This

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As we begin our exposition of chapter 3, it’s necessary to remember the greater context of Peter’s epistle, the theme of which I believe is sanctification.  Sanctification is to be holy, to be conformed to the image of Christ.  To become Christlike.  And as we have seen submission is one of the primary means by which God produces sanctification in us.   Peter talked about submission to government in chapter 2 vs 13; he says submit to every human institution. He is talking about human and societal government.  As Christians, the principle is that we are to submit to government. 

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