In December of 1776 Washington led his army of worn out, cold, and tired troops across the Delaware to mount an attack in Trenton, what was to be known as the Battle of Trenton. It was a difficult move. Two soldiers froze to death as they were moving across the frozen river. But in the end, this attack led by Washington breathed life and hope into an army, into a people wanting their independence. It was as if in a time when things could get no darker and there was a beam of light. Simply put, the Battle of Trenton gave hope to a people who might have bordered on hopelessness. It gave them a reason to rejoice.

The epistle of 1 Peter is written to a people who could have been plagued with doubts and fears, and no doubt would acknowledge they were living in dark times. Peter was writing to churches dispersed throughout Asia Minor, the area we now know as Turkey, that were made up mostly of Gentile believers. And for these Gentile believers, things had not turned rosy once they professed their faith in Christ. Rather, they were facing suffering and persecution. Their persecution was not from the state. It was most likely not illegal to be a Christian during this time, but it was most likely the day-to-day persecution by those around them. Nonetheless, it was real persecution and real suffering. And so Peter composes this letter to remind them of how blessed they are.

Not unlike the Battle of Trenton in the War of Independence this letter was meant to hope and joy to a people who might have been hopeless and felt they could not continue in the great cause. And that’s exactly what 1 Peter does. Specifically the first twelve verses of the letter remind the original readers and us what God has done for us and why he is worthy of our praise.

Therefore, for you today who may be facing suffering of any kind, I hope our text this morning reminds you of how loving God has been toward us, why he deserves your praise, and why you should rejoice this day. For those of you who may not feel suffering today, know that it will happen. It is one of the things promised to those who follow Christ in this world. So may you today hide this text in your heart so that you might strengthen yourself to rejoicing when you face suffering and various trials.

We will look at the text today in four sections, in each of them noting what God has done for us, why this should comfort us, and what we should do in response to this truth. Therefore, let us now begin by looking at the first section, the opening of the letter (vv. 1-2), in which Peter reminds his first readers and us of our first great blessing from God and cause for rejoicing.

God has made us his people (vv. 1-2)

Peter begins by describing his audience, those who are receiving the letter. And what he writes of them is true of us as well if be believe in Christ. He tells them who they are and what God has done for them in making them his people. He writes, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are elect exiles of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood. May grace and peace be multiplied to you” (vv. 1-2).

If you remember the book of Acts, then you remember that one of Peter’s great struggles was accepting that Gentiles who believed in Christ were the people of God. He struggled to accept it. And maybe in first accepting it he struggled to believe that Gentiles could be as precious to God as Jews or part of God’s original plan. Therefore, it is amazing what Peter does as he begins this letter to Gentile believers. He takes the phrases and words that were applied to Israel in the Old Testament and now applies them to these Gentile believers.

He writes first of all that they are elect exiles of the dispersion. “Dispersion” or the “diaspora” referred in the Old Testament to the Israelites who had been scattered throughout after the exile. But Peter calls these Gentile believers the “elect exiles of the dispersion.” He declares that they are God’s chosen people. Indeed, in line with Paul he is declaring that all who are in Christ (Jew and Gentile) are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise (Gal. 3:29). And they weren’t elect simply as some afterthought after God’s plan had failed. Peter will have none of it. They are elect “according to the foreknowledge of God.” Their being God’s people had been God’s plan before the foundation of the world. They were foreknown.

Now, to us, the word “know” or “knowledge” means very little. I could meet someone one time and when asked if I know him say, “Yes.” After all, I am aware of him. Therefore, I could say, “Yes, I know him.” But knowledge in Scripture means more than that. It means nothing less than to set one’s commitment and affection toward another. It means much more than just “knowing” as we would use the word. Thus, when God says to Israel in Amos 3:2, “You only have I known of all the families of the earth” he means much more than having knowledge of them. It’s not as if Abraham could have prayed, “Lord, I was speaking to Joe of the Hittities the other day and …” and God would stop him to say, “Joe? Hittites? You’ve got me. I have no idea who you’re talking about.” He obviously knows the Hittites. But what he was saying in Amos 3:2 was that Israel alone was the object of God’s affectionate commitment and covenant. That is what Peter wants these Gentiles to know. Before the foundation of the world God foreknew them. He set his affectionate commitment toward them before the world was even made, and that’s why they are elect. That’s why they are God’s people. They were chosen to be the object of his affectionate commitment.

And then he goes on, noting that they are elect, “in the sanctification of the Spirit.” That is, the Spirit has set them apart as God’s own. To be sanctified means to be made holy. To be holy is to be different or set apart. Peter says that the Holy Spirit has set them apart as God’s people in the midst of a world that does not know or love God. That’s while they are elect exiles. They have been made different. They have been set apart by the Spirit.

Then, finally, they are elect, according to God’s foreknowledge, in the sanctification of the Spirit, “for obedience to Jesus Christ and for sprinkling with his blood.” That is, they have been set apart for obedience to Christ, most likely referring to their initial obedience of faith and repentance – their conversion. They have been elect and set aside so that they might obey Christ in faith, and that they might be cleansed by his blood.

Peter wants them to know that they are truly God’s people, and that the Father, Son, and Spirit have made sure of this, foreknowing them, sanctifying them, purifying them, and bringing them to faith. Thus, their first cause for praising God and for being comforted in their present situation is that they have been made God’s people. And the same is true for all here today who have faith in Christ. Yet Peter goes on.

God has given us a certain hope (vv. 3-5)

Peter goes on, noting not only that God has made them his people but that he has given them a certain hope to which they can look. He writes in verses 3-5, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Peter declares that God be praised for a variety of reasons. First, he has given us life when we were dead in our sins. He has caused us to be born again, and we are born again to a living hope. That is, we have a real that is real and vital. We have a hope that is sure. It is through because it comes to us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. We use the word “hope” as something which can be doubted, but for Peter, our hope is as real and sure as Jesus really and surely rising from the dead.

But what is this hope? Peter refers to it in two ways, but basically talking about the same thing. He refers to it first of all as an inheritance and secondly as our salvation. And I believe Peter is not talking about two different things here. Rather, he is using Old Testament imagery as a view of salvation. In the Old Testament, salvation for God’s people meant that they would receive the inheritance, and the inheritance mainly meant the Promised Land. Israel wandered around until entering their inheritance, the Promised Land. Now, Peter is talking about the inheritance coming to us. However, it is different. For, the Promised Land could be subject to perishing, being defiled, and fading. It could be fruitless and whither or be defiled by sin. But Peter speaks of an inheritance that will not perish, be defiled, or fade. It is still physical, even as he will later speak in 2 Peter of a new heavens and a new earth, but it is greater than ancient Palestine. We have an inheritance waiting for us that is kept for us now in heaven. Even as Hebrews 11 says that Abraham sought a heavenly city, so our inheritance is kept by God for us. That is our salvation. That is what awaits us, ready to be revealed in the last time.

But how do we know for certain we’ll receive it? Peter says that the inheritance is kept for us, “who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to revealed in the last time.” That is, it is kept for us by God, and we are being kept for it by God. But how is God guarding us? The answer Peter gives is that we are being guarded by God through faith.

Now, this was a difficulty for me when I was growing up. I remember struggling with the issue of security in Christ, and I would read a text like this, noting that I was guarded or kept by God’s power, and I would think, “Whew, that’s what I need.” But then, I would read that I am being guarded or kept by God’s power, “through faith” and I would crumble. After all, faith is something that I exercise. I thought if I were going to have any security, then I needed no responsibility. If anything relied on my faith, then it wasn’t comforting, because my faith could falter, couldn’t it? So, how does this idea that we are kept by God’s power for our coming salvation and yet we are kept through faith work? I think it can only work if we understand that God’s power keeps us by ensuring that we never fail to have faith. That is, God’s power keeps us by sustaining our faith until that final day.

How can my hope be certain if it depends on my faith? It is certain because God’s very power sustains my faith until the end. God enables us to do that through which we are saved. Therefore, we are not only God’s people but also those who have been born again and await an inheritance that is as sure as Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.

God has enabled us to rejoice, even in trials (vv. 6-9)

And yet Peter continues with comfort and encouragement, reminding his readers that all of this means that we have a cause to rejoice, even when we are going through great trials. He writes in verses 6-9, “In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith – more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire – may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.”

Twice in this section Peter tells them to rejoice. He begins declaring that they should rejoice and then ends writing that they rejoice with joy inexpressible. Now, he knows that they have not seen Christ, like he has. And he knows that they do not now see Christ, even as he doesn’t. Yet, he knows that they love him and believe in him and therefore will obtain the outcome of their faith, their salvation, even as he has spoken of in verses 3-5. But he doesn’t ignore their trials either. So, why should they rejoice in the midst of various trials?

First, Peter has told them that they can rejoice “in this” meaning in the inheritance and salvation he has just spoken of in the prior verses. But there is a second reason. And it is this: even the various trials that come that way are being used for good. They are actually being used to show the genuineness of their faith so that it might abound in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

You see, the trials that come to them (and to us) now are actually used so that our faith might be tested and shown to be genuine. It is like gold which is tested by fire, but it is even more precious than gold because it will not perish, because (after all) it is being kept and guarded by the very power of God.

Take the story of Job, for example. It is God who says to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?” which leads to Job going through suffering none of us would want to experience. Why? Did God simply hate Job? Did God want to really get Job good? No. He said this to Satan, for one, so that the genuineness of Job’s faith might be shown worthy of praise, and honor, and glory. But how did God know Job wouldn’t break down and curse him? It is because God was guarding Job’s faith.

And the same is true for us. Suffering and trials are the pathway to produce and reveal the kind of faith that will stand on the final day of judgment. Various trials are used by God to form and reveal the kind of faith that will receive glory, honor, and praise at the revelation of our Lord. God is working for your good in various trials. And in all of them, compared to eternity which awaits us, they are only a little while and only because they are necessary.

I hate running. And I grew up playing soccer where every coach I had made us run until I felt like puking. And I never grew to love running. But I did grow to love two things: knowing I could outlast my opponent in endurance and winning. Thus, my coach didn’t make me run because he hated me and was out to get me. He made me run because he wanted to produce in me the kind of endurance that would allow me to outlast my opponent and ultimately win. Therefore, though I never grew to love running, I grew to understand I could rejoice in what it meant. So, for us, allow various trials to remind you that they are only a little while and then will come our salvation, and through them God is fashioning and revealing a faith that will be praiseworthy on that final day. Therefore, “rejoice when you encounter various trials” (James 1:2), and rejoice that our God loves us enough to labor in our lives with that final day in view.

Finally, God has privileged us to know his work of redemption (vv. 10-12)

Peter ends the section writing, “Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look” (vv. 10-12).

Peter wants his readers to see how privileged they are to have heard and believed the proclamation of the gospel. He wants them to know how privileged they are to be believers on this side of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. He points out first of all that they are in a more privileged position than the prophets who prophesied about this grace to come in Christ. As they wrote they searched carefully and inquired as to the facts and timing of how exactly redemption would occur. They wanted so badly to see it and know it, but God revealed to them that in writing texts like Isaiah 53, they were writing that as a service to us. We were the ones who would live on this side of the cross and know fully what Isaiah 53 is talking about. We know that Jesus of Nazareth is the one who died, was buried, and was raised from the dead nearly 2,000 years ago. In fact, according to Matthew 11, we are greater than Isaiah, David, John the Baptist, and everyone who lived on that side of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ because we know exactly how God has redeemed his people.

In addition, we are more privileged than the angels, who long to look into the gospel and yet have never and will never experience what we have known, namely, being redeemed from our sins and from death through the power of the gospel. We are the most privileged people in all of history, those on this side of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.

Therefore, why should we rejoice this morning? What should encourage and comfort us in our time of suffering? Peter lays it out for us in this text. We are God’s chosen people. We have a sure hope, an inheritance, our salvation being kept for us. We ourselves are kept by God’s power and even in our sufferings he is simply showing our faith to be genuine. And we are privileged to know clearly God’s redemption when neither the prophets nor angels got to know what we know. Therefore, let us rejoice. And may we, as we come to the table, declare with Peter, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Amen.

THE PRIVILEGED POSITION OF THE SAINTS

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